Homeland Defense? Homeland Security?

For those who just can't get enough FAs (federal acronyms), here's a Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service report entitled Homeland Security: Navy Operations -- Background and Issues for Congress.

This caught my eye, because the summary paragraph leading the six-page report notes that "The Department of Defense (DOD), which includes the Navy, has been designated the lead federal agency for homeland defense (HLD), while the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which includes the Coast Guard, has been designated the lead federal agency for homeland security (HLS). Several Navy activities contribute to HLS and HLD. The Navy's HLS and HLD operations raise several potential oversight issues for Congress, including Navy coordination with the Coast Guard in HLS and HLD operations."

The report goes on to use such intriguing FAs as MDA, GWOT, AT/FP, MHLS, MHLD, and CS. The ability to jam as many FAs as possible into as few pages as possible is the sign of a bureaucrat destined for rapid promotion.

I recall one of my Army assignments was coordinating the Latin American Exchange of Information Program, which the Army FA'd the LAX program. After concluding that assignment, I was given the "Ex-LAX Officer" award. That was appropriate, because the work product of the LAX program was the same as the product resulting from taking Ex-Lax.