Support to Disaster Relief (DR)

Description: The Support to Disaster Relief (DR) mission type consists of activities to provide support after a man-made or natural disaster. Emergency relief concerns sustaining the means to safeguard life and requires very rapid reaction particularly where extreme climates are encountered. Protecting human life is an inherent responsibility. Relief operations, in the narrow sense of the provision of aid, are principally the purview of humanitarian or aid agencies, whether UN or government, including host government (where one exists), NGOs, and the civil sector. Military forces should be ready to assist in relief operations when the need for them arises, and to cooperate with other organizations concerned. Normally, military forces work to create the conditions in which these other agencies can operate more freely and effectively. NATO forces, such as the standing naval forces, may be in the area as a result of an unrelated exercise or operation and could be diverted by direction of the NAC or MC; however, because of the need for speed, it is likely that immediate reaction will be provided unilaterally by nations. Disaster relief could bconducted as a standalone operation; however, because of the requisite response times, it is more likely to take place within the context of an ongoing Non-Article 5 Crisis Response Operation (NA5CRO).