Relationship between Civil and Military in Disaster Response and Recovery

In recent years, military and civil agencies play an important role in disaster response and recovery. These include an increase in the scale and incident of natural disasters, a concurrent trend towards militarization of humanitarian response in conflict situations and increased interest in disaster response on the part of military. Hence, the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) and civil agencies play an effective role to ensure the effectiveness of managing the disaster response in that area. The objective of this study is to know the problems faced by the Malaysian Armed Forces and Civil Agencies in Sarawak. This study is to examine the civil-military cooperation between the Malaysian Armed Forces and civil agencies during the disaster, to examine the civil-military coordination in disaster management, and to examine the civil-military activities between armed forces and civil agencies and the activities carried out by the army and civil agencies and also the challenges faced during the response and recovery in disaster management. This study is based on qualitative research method through interviews and focus group discussion involving the military infantry unit at 11 Royal Malay Regiment, 13 Royal Malay Regiment, 3 Royal Ranger Regiment, and 10 Royal Ranger Regiment in Sarawak. There are also problems such as disagreement between the military and civil agency that weakened their professional relationship. It is important for the military and civil agency to have a good relationship in order to work together in managing the disaster.