After Action Reports

The After-Action Report/Improvement Plan (AAR/IP) is a document that organizations (including FEMA) use to assess their ability to meet both real-world incidents and exercise objectives and capabilities. The AAR/IP generally has two components:

• After-Action Report (AAR)Captures observations of an exercise and makes recommendations for post-exercise improvements.
• Improvement Plan (IP)Identifies specific corrective actions and assigns them to responsible parties.

The AAR/IP also aligns incident command (or exercise) objectives with preparedness doctrine and related frameworks and guidance. It includes information required for preparedness reporting and trend analysis.

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Some of the After Action Reports (AARs) on major incidents or GO/NGO councils/committees, we have found on the web. Do you know of any others available as OSINT (Open Source Intelligence – items available – TLP: Green- to the public, not classified or sensitive)? Please add in the comments. If any of these links are broken, please let us know via an e-mail to [email protected].

Year Occurred	Report name/Location
2007	Los Angeles Police Department Report to the Board of Police Commissioners – “An Examination of May Day 2007” – from MacArthur Park
2009	The Lessons of Mumbai
2010	Deepwater Horizon Gulf Oil Disaster
2015	Attacks on Paris, France
2016	After-Action Review of the Orlando Fire Department Response to the Attack at Pulse Nightclub
2017	Las Vegas MCI – October 1st Route 91 Concert Shooting – Commemorating Disorder in After Action Reports: Rhetorics of Organizational Trauma after the Las Vegas Shooting
2017	Independent Review of the 2017 Protest Events in Charlottesville, Virginia
2019	‘Sharpiegate’ – Allegations of Scientific Misconduct During Hurricane Dorian
2020	The Joint Federal/Provincial Commission into the April 2020 Nova Scotia Mass Casualty – Final Report – Turning the Tide Together – by the Mass Casualty Commission
2020	An After-Action Review of City Agencies’ Responses to Activities Directly Following George Floyd’s Death on May 25, 2020. Conducted on behalf of the City of Minneapolis, Minnesota
2020	Independent Review of New Jersey’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
2020	Nashville, TN – 2020 Christmas Day Bombing: Communications Dependencies Case Study
2021	City of Austin-Travis County 2021 Winter Storm Uri After-Action Reports
2021	Fredrick, MD – Joshua Laird – LODD – After-Action Report and Improvement Plan (AAR/IP)
2022	Uvalde, TX – 2022 Robb Elementary School Shooting: Interim Report. Conducted by the Texas House of Representatives, Investigative Committee on the Robb Elementary Shooting
2022	Review of the University of Arizona’s Safety and Security Environment – from the killing of a professor on campus, by a former student
2022	Buffalo, NY – Lessons Learned from the Buffalo Blizzard: Recommendations for Strengthening Preparedness and Recovery Efforts, 2022 Buffalo Blizzard After-Action Report/Improvement Plan – An Independent Alternative Report by the Center for Emergency Management Intelligence Research
2023	Roadmap for Wildfire Resilience: Solutions for a Paradigm Shift by The Nature Conservancy and the Aspen Institute
2023	The Impacts of Extreme Weather Events on People with Disabilities by the National Council on Disability
2023	Rail Safety Report from the 2023 East Palestine, Ohio Train Derailment by the Ohio Senate Select Committee on Rail Safety

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There are also pracademic perspectives on some of the AARs we have noted above. We have provided links to those as well. If you know of others – please let us know!

After Action Reporting is a formal process conducted after both real-world incidents and exercises. It involves an independent review of the actions and gaps (strengths and opportunities) of those groups responding, based on their plans. Barton Dunant can help your organization with independent After Action Reporting – drop us a line to learn more.