It appeared in Autumn, 1997. The author is a member of the Judge Advocate General's office. The recent moves to consolidate the National Guard and the Army Reserves into domestic control units are consistent with what appears here. The exigencies of the situation seem to overcome legal proscriptions arguably applicable to our soldiers' conduct.
Pragmatism appears to prevail when American soldiers help their fellow citizens.
Both instances provide ample evidence that there is a reliable mechanism to facilitate the employment of active-duty Army units in times of great national disaster. The Stafford Act is applicable only within the United States and its territories, and comes into play when a state, usually through its governor, requests a presidential declaration of a state of emergency following a natural disaster. These situations present unique legal issues. . . . The unprecedented destruction of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Office Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on 19 April 1995, raised another important legal issue affecting disaster relief operations. As one might imagine, all the resources of local, state, and federal government agencies were mobilized to deal with this shocking act of domestic terrorism.