Military Aid to the Civil Community
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Military Aid to the Civil Community (MACC) is a phrase referring to the armed forces providing a service to the civilian community. It is used in many countries, particularly the United Kingdom.
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United Kingdom
MACC is one of the fundamental Military Tasks of the British Army. Examples of use of UK armed forces for Military Aid to the Civil Community include:
- Firefighting duties when the civilian firefighters go on strike
- Disposal of animal carcasses during widespread foot-and-mouth epidemic
- Assisting with problems caused by severe weather - particularly flooding
Canada
Canadian legislation and practice is very similar to that of the UK, adjusted to reflect the constitutional authority and responsibility of provinces. Provinces are responsible for dealing with most situations requiring emergency military assistance. The Military is frequently called out by provinces to deal with forest fires, floods, ice storms and even lost children.
Unlike "Military Aid to the Civil Power", the procedures are much less formal and decision-making is decentralized. Since the military does not act in a police role when called out under these provisions, the main issue is the level of government that pays for this aid; in principle, when a province requests aid, it must pay the bill.
The military also provides certain full-time functions, including search and rescue at sea and for missing aircraft. It provides, as well, patrols in the air and at sea to enforce civil regulations in regard to pollution, fishing, etc. However, this assistance is in support of other federal government departments and is the subject of simple inter-department memoranda of understanding.
Germany
MACC is one of the fundamental Military Tasks of the Bundeswehr. It was also historically very important to get legitimation and the support of the population, since the german rearmament was a difficult political decision and stood under heavy criticism. The german constitution Grundgesetz contains several rules regarding MACC. The use of force is not permitted to the Bundeswehr under normal conditions, in that case the federal police Bundesgrenzschutz can be requested by the Bundesland. Because of acceptance problems in the early Bundesrepublik, the Bundeswehr focused on MACC to get a better acceptance. In the Hamburg Flood, the north german winter catastrophe 1978/1978 and several other incidents the Bundeswehr providided substantial aid to the population. The Bundeswehr with its SAR-Helicopters is also part of the german air rescue system. The Luftwaffe also evacuates german citizens in international crisis and catastrophes on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Auswärtiges Amt). The Luftwaffe also offers a flying hospital for medical evacuation, which evacuated terror victims from Tunisia and tsunami victims from Thailand.