Sanctuary at "The SAN": FCDA and the CDSC move to Battle Creek, MI

Due to concerns during the Cold War, A Presidential Order moved the Federal Civil Defense Administration (FCDA) and the Civil Defense Staff College (CDSC) to Battle Creek, Michigan, in response to the increasing threat of attack on Washington, DC.

The new home of FCDA and the CDSC at the Battle Creek Federal Center, later known as the Hart-Dole-Inouye Federal Center, has a colorful history intertwined with notable Americans. In 1876, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, medical director, named the property Battle Creek Sanitarium (known colloquially as "The SAN"), and expanded the facility to include a hospital, central building, and other cottages. For more information its colorful history, read the GSA's historic building overview of the Hart-Dole-Inouye Federal Center

CDSC continued teaching courses in program administration and finance, civil defense operations, and radiological monitoring among others, to state and local personnel. By 1979, some new courses had been created on natural disaster operations, and the FCDA was alligned under the Department of Defense and had since been renamed the Defense Civil Preparedness Agency (DCPA).

By 1970, emergency and disaster activities accross the nation were still fragmented. When hazards associated with nuclear power plants and the transportation of hazardous substances were added to natural disasters, more than 100 federal agencies were involved in some aspect of disasters, hazards, and emergencies. Many parallel programs and policies existed at the state and local levels, simplifying the complexity of federal disaster relief efforts. The National Governor’s Association sought to decrease the many agencies with which state and local governments were forced to work. In the late 1970s, they asked President Carter to centralize federal emergency functions.

Chapter 3: Under the Umbrella