US&R Advisory Organizational Structure
ADVISORY ORGANIZATION ELEMENTS
The US&R Advisory Organization is comprised of three elements; the Strategic Group, the Advisory Group, (comprised of Advisory Group - Senior Staff, and five Functional Group Leaders) and the Advisory Support Group (comprised of members of the five Functional Groups, Subgroups, Units, and Ad Hoc Groups). Each Group is responsible for developing and maintaining their respective areas and integrating them into the System. The members of the groups, both System and non-System personnel, are chosen based on their management and/or technical expertise to provide advice and recommendations upon which decisions are based. These decisions will be made through consensus, whenever possible.
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Strategic Group – Comprised of the FEMA Operations Division Director, the US&R Branch Chief, the three Sponsoring Agency Chief Representatives - Divisional (SAC-Ds), the TFR-N, and the Advisory Group Chair. Responsible to provide the US&R Branch with recommendations to establish priorities for the System on matters regarding policy, strategic goals, budget, and issues with financial impact on System Sponsoring Agencies and task forces.
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Advisory Group - Senior Staff – Comprised of the Advisory Group Chair, Deputy Advisory Group Chair, Legal Representative, TFR-D’s (3), all Functional Group Leaders (5), and the US&R Branch Section Chiefs (2). The Advisory Group - Senior Staff is part of the Advisory Group and responsible for coordinating activities and reviewing recommendations and work products submitted by the various organizational levels within the Advisory Support Group.
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Advisory Group – Comprised of Advisory Group - Senior Staff and the five standing Functional Group Leaders who are subject matter experts that are responsible for overseeing the five standing Functional Groups, assisting with development of strategy, and identifying resources and tactics to accomplish goals.
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Functional Groups – The five Functional Groups (Command/IST, Operations, Logistics, Preparedness and Finance/Admin) are comprised of Subgroup Leaders and other technical experts. Functional Group members are in either an active or reserve status. Functional Groups are created as needed at the direction of the Advisory Group – Senior Staff.
Advisory Organization Applications – The System will annually inventory and actively solicit the best candidates for Advisory Organization positions that need to be filled by following the guidelines below:
A. The US&R Branch will announce and initiate the solicitation process to System task forces for any position with a General Memorandum by October 1.
B. In the month of October, the applications are accepted for the open position(s) via the electronic solicitation process from the System task forces. The submissions will be reviewed to determine if the candidates meet the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) for the open positions and have provided all required documents and information.
US&R 201-A – Appendix A - Advisory Organization Decision Process:
A. The System’s Advisory Organization decision process provides a way to remain current regarding changes in technology, service demands, and training - resulting in the highest level of service.
A-1. The AO decision process is consensus driven. Every attempt is made to come to general agreement on all interests and concerns. The Strategic Group will provide direction to the Advisory Group regarding policies, strategic goals, budgets, and issues impacting costs.
A-2. The Advisory Group shall determine how to manage a recommendation, change, or request that is entered into the System. If subject matter expertise is required, the issue will be assigned to the appropriate Functional Group or Ad Hoc Group for action.
A-3. Some issues will require input or action by multiple Functional Groups. In those cases, the Functional Group to which the issue is assigned will be designated as the primary Functional Group and will be responsible for coordinating with the other Functional Groups to develop a recommendation.
