National Catastrophe Relief Auxiliary was a pre-War United States government agency tasked with disaster relief and associated affairs.
Background[]
Pre-War[]
In the years before the Great War, the National Catastrophe Relief Auxiliary established an automated government aid drop system. In the event of a national emergency, authorized NCRA personnel could use US Government supply requisition holotapes at Emergency Broadcast Terminals found at relay towers to summon airborne supply drops, which were delivered by cargobots. This system allowed the efficient delivery of emergency supplies in the event of a complete breakdown in the human-run supply chain.[1]
It is highly probable that the U.S government was aware of the oncoming attack, as stated in Nancy Kroydon's log. NCRA units mobilized in the early evening on October 22 and deployed throughout the Greater Washington area. The NCRA remained on alert in the event of a catastrophe. The cause of the mobilization was kept secret from even the presiding officers of each unit, but rumors spread of an imminent Chinese attack.[2]
On October 23 the Great War erupted and Washington, D.C. was hit by several nuclear bombs. One National Catastrophe Relief Auxiliary unit was on evacuation assignment on the Belt Loop. Units farther from D.C were spared from the immediate blasts, including Response Unit MD-478 commanded by Presiding Officer Nancy Kroydon which was deployed to Germantown.[3] Surviving response units now began to oversee the evacuation of civilians and the medical treatment of injured and radiation poison victims at their designated evacuation centers.[4]
Post-War[]
Almost immediately following the nuclear exchange, the National Catastrophe Relief Auxiliary became overwhelmed by the number of injured and radiation victims, desertions and lack of supplies.[4] The agency, like the rest of the United States government and the military, disintegrated and ceased to exist as the chain of command collapsed and personnel fell victim to the nuclear fallout or deserted.[5][6][7][8][9]
After the Great War, the NCRA's automated government aid drop system continued to function in Appalachia, and could be utilized by the Vault Dwellers from Vault 76.[10]
Organization[]
Though billed as an auxiliary force, the NCRA was structured much like a military unit. For relief, it relied on a distributed network of Response Units, each identified with a code consisting of its state abbreviation and a numerical, allowing for up to one thousand units per state (eg. MD-478). Every unit would be led by a Presiding Officer.[11] Any attempts to defraud the NCRA would be prosecuted under 18 USC section 641, which covered all attempts to embezzle government property and funds.[1]
The agency held regular drills to determine the capacity to respond to emergency situations. High scoring NCRA units were usually tasked with handling densely populated urban areas, with lower scoring units assigned to outlying regions with lower population density.[2]
In case of an emergency (or a high likelihood of one), NCRA units were mobilized much like military units and kept at a state of readiness to assist with disaster relief.[2] In the event of an actual emergency (such as thermonuclear war), NCRA units would be assigned to any National Guard detachments available to try and establish a semblance of peace in the face of looting and general collapse. NCRA units would be expected to cooperate with any and all units available, including those completely out of state.[4]
Beyond that, the NCRA also maintained a network of Emergency Broadcast System points, each capable of summoning an automated Cargobot supply drop at the behest of an authorized NCRA representative from local offices (which, in practice, boiled down to anyone bearing the holotape with the code). This system was the most widespread in Appalachia, where each EBS station could accept one-time codes from the endless supply of US government supply requisition holotapes.[1]
Appearances[]
The National Catastrophe Relief Auxiliary is mentioned in Fallout 3 and Fallout 76.
Behind the scenes[]
The National Catastrophe Relief Auxiliary appears to be the fictional equivalent of the real-world FEMA.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 US government supply requisition
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Germantown police HQ terminal entries; terminal, Log #001
- ↑ Germantown police HQ terminal entries; terminal, Log #002
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Germantown police HQ terminal entries; terminal, Log #003
- ↑ Germantown police HQ terminal entries; terminal, Log #004
- ↑ Germantown police HQ terminal entries; terminal, Log #005
- ↑ Germantown police HQ terminal entries; terminal, Log #006
- ↑ Germantown police HQ terminal entries; terminal, Log #007
- ↑ Germantown police HQ terminal entries; terminal, Log #008
- ↑ Government aid drop
- ↑ Germantown police HQ terminal entries: "Transcript
National Catastrophe Relief Auxiliary - Response Unit MD-478
by Nancy Kroydon, Presiding Officer"