Homeland Security Capabilities-Based Planning: Lessons from the Defense Community

Beginning in 2004, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) began to define and implement a national domestic all-hazards preparedness goal, intended to improve the nation’s preparedness for national catastrophes, including terrorist attacks. DHS’s approach was capabilities-based planning (CBP), adopted from the Department of Defense (DoD). This article illustrates several components important for CBP implementation to contrast with DHS’s approach. These components range from setting out the business case for CBP adoption to necessary organizational and cultural enablers. The article concludes with CBP implementation challenges because of differences between homeland security and the defense community. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY: Dr. Sharon Caudle is an assistant director with the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) Homeland Security and Justice Team. She specializes in homeland security and national preparedness strategic policies, programs, standards, and management. She currently serves on the American National Standards Institute’s Homeland Security Standards Panel steering committee and the technical committee for the national standard for disaster management, emergency management, and business continuity. She is also a senior fellow with the George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute and is an adjunct faculty for the Office of Personnel Management’s Development Centers and The George Washington University. She earned her Master degree and doctorate in public management from The George Washington University in Washington, DC, and recently earned a Master degree in homeland security and homeland defense from the School of International Studies, Naval Postgraduate School, in