Evolution of interagency cooperation in the United States Government : the Maritime Operational Threat Response Plan

Abstract

Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, there was concern among maritime security experts that terrorist or criminal organizations that wanted to do harm to the United States could exploit gaps that existed between the various government agencies responsible for maritime security. These gaps resulted from a lack of clear roles and responsibilities between the agencies where no one organization could easily be identified as having the lead over the other agencies across the range of maritime threat response actions. The Maritime Operational Threat Response (MOTR) Plan, the topic of this thesis, is an attempt to close the gaps by providing an effective framework to coordinate and utilize the unparalleled capabilities of the U.S. Government and enhance the security of the American public. The MOTR Plan is a Federal interagency process to achieve coordinated action and desired national outcomes. Before the creation of the MOTR Plan there was no formal interagency process to address the broad spectrum of maritime threats. The Presidential Directive (PD-27) Process was used in a limited number of cases, but lacked detailed guidance and a clear framework to coordinate interagency planning and response operations. Since its implementation in October 2005, the MOTR Plan has been successfully employed for hundreds of routine maritime threats and a number of low-frequency/high risk threats. These cases include drug and migrant interdiction, fisheries violations, bomb threats, radiation/nuclear alarm resolution, and piracy. Senior government leaders have heralded the MOTR Plan as a model plan for interagency coordination and cooperation. This thesis focuses on the MOTR Plan and whether it is effective at providing a framework and process to coordinate and leverage the authorities, competencies, and capabilities of the federal government agencies responsible for maritime security. The thesis also provides contextual information, including the importance and complexities of the maritime domain, the primary types of threats that the United States faces in the maritime domain, and the maritime security capabilities that it has to address them. The thesis also discusses maritime security interagency coordination before the MOTR Plan, focusing on the PD-27 Process, and the inadequacies of this process.