Emergency Management and Resilience

The Office of Emergency Management and Resilience (OEMR) provides strategic guidance and implements policy for the Department’s preparedness and resilience portfolio across the spectrum of emergency management, continuity, national security and intelligence activities. This ensures the Department can effectively stabilize, restore and sustain mission assurance and manage consequences under any conditions regardless of threat or hazard. OEMR leads and coordinates VA’s Fourth Mission to improve the Nation’s preparedness for response to war, terrorism, national emergencies, and natural disasters by strengthening capability and capacity to support the VA workforce and continue delivering services to the Veteran community, as well as support national disaster operations in response to complex, large-scale, regional or catastrophic incidents as needed. OEMR integrates Department capabilities and support for managing emergencies at the Federal, tribal, state or local level.

VA Seal

Bobby J. Small Jr.

Acting Executive Director

Mission

Provides strategic guidance, oversight, decision support, and technical assistance for building, sustaining, and validating capabilities needed to enhance national security, maintain mission assurance, implement continuity of operations and government, and support federal disaster operations in response to war or national emergencies.

Activities

  • Provides management, coordination and oversight of the Department’s Preparedness, Resilience, Emergency Management, Continuity, National Security and Intelligence portfolios.
  • Facilitates a shared understanding of risk to mission, workforce and the Veteran community.
  • Establishes and maintains risk-centric data-driven Department level intelligence, emergency management, preparedness and resilience policy and guidance.
  • Furthers continuity policy and procedures in accordance with Federal laws, regulations, policy.
  • Integrates and supports Department activities for building, sustaining, and delivering core capabilities needed to stabilize or restore mission assurance and ensure Federal mission resilience while meeting needs of Veterans, their beneficiaries or others as appropriate.
  • Coordinates Department input across Interagency Policy Committee (IPC) activities related to preparedness, security, emergency management and resilience.

Organizational Units

Operations and National Security Services

Operations and National Security Services (ONSS) serves as the Department’s lead for National Security operations, engagements and interface with key internal stakeholders and interagency partners. ONSS provides policy and oversight for the Department’s special security, secure and emergency preparedness communications, insider threat and defensive counterintelligence, and Intelligence Community (IC) support programs.

Operations

The Operations Division is responsible for establishing shared situational awareness, maintaining a common operating picture, conducting information and Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis, providing information fusion and dissemination, planning and decision support for the VA enterprise, operational coordination, and disaster response.

Manages VA’s Alternate Operating locations, coordinates communications security (COMSEC), and advises and provides oversight for VA cryptologic material and equipment portfolio.

Planning, Exercise, Training, and Evaluation (PETE)

The Planning, Exercises, Training and Evaluation (PETE) Division is responsible for developing and maintaining preparedness and resilience related doctrine, policy, and plans, along with associated validation of capability and capacity needed to sustain mission resilience regardless of threat or hazard. PETE is the Department’s lead for Whole of Government federal mission resilience and continuity of operations/government. As an integrator, PETE assists VA Administrations and Staff Offices with identifying essential functions and manages overall coordination of planning, exercises, training, and evaluation efforts to ensure resilience and continuity are integrated into daily operations across the Department.