Seapower - May 2009

Collaborative Approach
U.S. Maritime Operational Threat Response plan
coordinates federal action in ports and far from shore

By OTTO KREISHER, Special Correspondent

‘Used by All, Owned by None’

“Simply stated,” Gilio said, “the Maritime Operational Threat Response plan is designed to support the National Strategy for Maritime Security. It is the plan that is principally responsible for ensuring integrated, informed U.S. government response to threats that occur in the maritime domain.”

MOTR is a coordination mechanism by which the many federal agencies “collaborate to develop courses of action in response to maritime threats,” he said.

Any one of the many federal agencies that have authorities and responsibilities for addressing threats in the maritime domain might encounter information or an incident that requires a broader government response, Gilio said. MOTR ties those agencies together, through their command centers and designated experts, so they can contribute their agencies’ knowledge, experience and capabilities to addressing a threat, he said.

“By participating in the MOTR process, we accomplish our departments’ missions of prevention and response. We found that by leveraging resources, it puts us in the best position to address current and future threats,” said Martin Wade Jr., deputy director of Marine Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Air and Marine.

Although the MOTR plan was signed Nov. 8, 2006, its origins are in an earlier presidential directive signed by George W. Bush, Gilio said.

In his address, Allen noted that under the 2004 National Strategy for Maritime Security, the Coast Guard has worked with its interagency partners to develop and mature the MOTR process.

“This is an unequivocal interagency success story,” he said. “Utilizing prearranged protocols, federal officials

Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen says the Maritime Operational Threat Response (MOTR) “is important, because the threats we face in the maritime commons tend to be agnostic to political boundaries and traditional jurisdictions.”

■ Depending on the threat, several federal agencies could have the authority and capabilities to respond, including the Coast Guard, Energy Department, Customs and Border Protection and the FBI.

■ The MOTR plan ties these federal agencies together through their respective command centers and designated experts.

■ These agencies and experts collaborate to determine the best course of action.

The security threats and challenges in the vast maritime domain are so varied and complex that they require the talents and resources of many more U.S. government agencies than the departments of Defense and Homeland Security, which normally are associated with those issues.

In fact, at least half of the federal departments and many of their associated agencies can be engaged in maritime security issues, said Capt. Michael Gilio, chief of law enforcement for the Coast Guard.

The potentially difficult task of coordinating and integrating the capabilities of all those federal offices has been facilitated by a little-known process called the Maritime Operational Threat Response (MOTR) plan.

“The MOTR process is a gold standard for interagency coordination and cooperation,” Adm. Thad Allen, the Coast Guard commandant, said in his annual State of the Coast Guard address March 3 at the National Press Club in Washington. “And it is important, because the threats we face in the maritime commons tend to be agnostic to political boundaries and traditional jurisdictions.”