When religious fanatics released canisters of sarin gas, a deadly nerve agent, in the Tokyo subway in 1995, twelve people were killed and thousands were injured. Poor planning on the part of the terrorists prevented a more horrific outcome. Nevertheless, the immediate aftermath of the incident was chaotic, and it took several hours for local officials to determine the precise nature of the chemical attack, resulting in widespread panic and fatal delays in the treatment of victims.

Here at home, the bombings of the World Trade Center in New York and the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City have underscored the complex nature of the problems we as a nation face in responding to terrorism on U.S. soil. Doubts about the timing and location of possible terrorist attacks sit uneasily alongside the almost certain possibility that attacks against the U.S homeland will eventually occur. Counter-terrorism specialists define the problem as being, "not a question of if, but when and where" such attacks will take place.

Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen has announced the implementation of a plan designed to lay the cornerstone for a national strategy to provide military expertise to civil authorities in attacks involving chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, which are collectively referred to as weapons of mass destruction (WMD). A critical element of the plan calls for the use of the National Guard and other Reserve component forces to support local, state and federal agencies in responding to a WMD incident. Ten assessment teams will be able to deploy rapidly, assist local first responders in determining the nature of an attack, provide medical and technical advice, and pave the way for the arrival of follow-on state and federal response assets.

Each rapid assessment team will consist of twenty-two highly skilled, full-time National Guard personnel who will act as the tip of our national military response spear. Other Reserve component personnel, who serve in existing units around the country, trained and equipped to operate in hazardous chemical or biological environments, will also be on call to support civil authorities. Forty-nine million dollars will be spent during the next fiscal year (FY 1999) to begin setting up, training and equipping the response elements.

The underlying premise of this plan is that disaster relief is-and will remain-primarily a state mission. Although the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the lead federal agency for consequence management and disaster response, the catastrophic nature of WMD attacks means that additional federal assets will very likely be requested early on in any incident. In this context, the substantial capabilities of the Department of Defense will be a critical feature of an effective response effort, which will need to be massive and immediate. When it comes time for the military to lend a hand, the Department of Defense will play a supporting role, one specifically designed not to usurp the authority of local incident commanders.

The U.S. military Reserve components are the appropriate forces to use in homeland defense and WMD response. They live and work in all communities and they have established links to the fire, police and emergency medical personnel who are always the first to arrive at the scene of any incident. Consequently, the Guard and Reserves represent a unique pool of manpower and expertise that, with the proper training and equipment, can support local, state and federal authorities in WMD consequence management. By developing the inherent response potential of the Reserve components, the Department of Defense can improve its ability to support civil authorities.

The plan to integrate the Reserve components into a national WMD strategy is a sound one. Highly cost-effective, it incorporates and leverages existing forces into current WMD response planning, while creating only one new type of unit, the rapid assessment teams. It helps to fill existing gaps in civilian response assets, especially the need for local responders to quickly determine the precise nature of an attack and call for the right kind of support. And it complements ongoing interagency WMD preparedness efforts, including the Federal Response Plan and the City Training Program, which trains local police, fire and emergency medical personnel how to manage the consequences of WMD use.

The City Training Program reached twenty-seven cities last year and will cover twenty-two more this year, with a total of 120 overall slated for training through 2002. This program, an outgrowth of the 1996 Nunn-Lugar-Domenici Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction Act, is making significant progress, but serious shortfalls remain in our national response capabilities. The bottom line is that the United States needs to prepare better to respond to terrorist attacks on its homeland. A sustained interagency effort will be required if we are to begin laying a solid foundation for a strategy to prepare for and manage the consequences of WMD terrorism.

Although we can never be fully prepared to respond to all types of events in all locations, we can begin to lay the foundation for an integrated, across-the-board response. The continued partnership for WMD preparation among local, state and federal authorities will be essential to our success. We have made a good beginning, but we are faced with a multiyear effort, which requires a long-term commitment. Should the unthinkable occur, we must be prepared to respond in a coordinated manner with all of our assets. The goal is to save lives, turn victims into patients, and mitigate the effects of a WMD incident.