Fawkes
25th June 2012, 00:50
for how to organize a relief/rescue force during a post-revolutionary period (and possibly a military force during a revolutionary period).
This article (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1122007-1,00.html) provides some pretty interesting insights into how the USCG operates. While there are many obvious problems with the Coast Guard's actions (immigration control, breaking port strikes), the relatively decentralized organization it seems to follow provides a pretty cool example of how decentralization is far more effective in addressing the immediate needs of victims of a variety of circumstances than highly centralized organizations.
One of the most telling quotes is on the third page of the article:
Anna Steel, 24, a Coast Guard reservist from St. Louis, Mo., began navigating her 16-ft. skiff through New Orleans neighborhoods three days after the storm hit. She and her crewman brought 35 people to dry land at a highway on-ramp marked, appropriately enough, Elysian Fields. As the coxswain, Steel had extensive training in piloting the boat, so she made the decisions. "When we're out on the boat, I'm in charge. Even if my crewman is a lieutenant, which way outranks me, he reports to me. I had that authority within my first two years in the Coast Guard."
I don't have anything particularly profound to say about this, just found it an interesting article that could maybe spur a discussion.
This article (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1122007-1,00.html) provides some pretty interesting insights into how the USCG operates. While there are many obvious problems with the Coast Guard's actions (immigration control, breaking port strikes), the relatively decentralized organization it seems to follow provides a pretty cool example of how decentralization is far more effective in addressing the immediate needs of victims of a variety of circumstances than highly centralized organizations.
One of the most telling quotes is on the third page of the article:
Anna Steel, 24, a Coast Guard reservist from St. Louis, Mo., began navigating her 16-ft. skiff through New Orleans neighborhoods three days after the storm hit. She and her crewman brought 35 people to dry land at a highway on-ramp marked, appropriately enough, Elysian Fields. As the coxswain, Steel had extensive training in piloting the boat, so she made the decisions. "When we're out on the boat, I'm in charge. Even if my crewman is a lieutenant, which way outranks me, he reports to me. I had that authority within my first two years in the Coast Guard."
I don't have anything particularly profound to say about this, just found it an interesting article that could maybe spur a discussion.