Internal Impacts of External Constraints
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Top levels staffed by cronies with no disaster experience
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Demoralization of the professional staff:
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American Federation of Government Employees survey of 84 FEMA personnel in
2004 found 80% dissatisfied with its direction under DHS
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60% hoped to leave
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Resignations: Many now working for private sector contractors with FEMA
- Loss of institutional memory
- Loss of personal ties among disaster professionals in FEMA, State OES, county (parish) and municipal first response agencies, disrupting the smooth assembly of incident command systems
- Confusing chains of command