PASSIVE
DEFENSE: Prentiss defined Passive
Defense as activities undertaken by civilian authorities to protect the population,
industrial base, and jurisdictions from air attack through negative measures
designed to:
(1) Reduce the impact of air attack on
jurisdictions.
(2) Maintain civilian morale to prevent impacts
on national war efforts.
(3) Prevent the further disruption of the life of
the population.
Prentiss
clearly states that Passive Defense measures were the responsibility of state
and local government, although he saw a role for federal government in
assisting states and localities through general of planning, the integration of
Active Defense and
Passive Defense measures, support for training, and technical advice.
Measures
that Prentiss listed as components of in Passive Defense included:
(1) Organizing and training the civilian
population to increase understanding of the character of air attacks and
provide useful skills for dealing with them.
The end result would have been prevention of panic and a more orderly
response to such events.
(2) Warning systems to allow the population to
seek shelter.
(3) Provision of shelters capable of protecting
the population from chemical, high explosive, and incendiary devices.
(4) Planning for evacuation of non-essential
persons, including women and children, from large urban centers likely to be
attacked.
(5) Maintenance of lifeline services, including
water, electric power, food distribution, transportation, and communications.
(6) Protecting key public buildings and industrial
plants from high explosive or incendiary weapons.
(7) Control of lighting and blackouts.
(8) Medical treatment and first aid for
casualties of attacks.
Prentiss
believed that Passive Defense achieved two important goals – the reduction of
the damage incurred in air attacks and the reduction of the value of attacks on
the civilian population as a military strategy.
Prentiss,
Augustin M., Civil Air Defense, New York, NY,
McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1941.