Economy Act of 1932

The Economy Act was passed in 1932 as a method of avoiding duplication of work on the Government’s behalf. “In the Economy Act of June 30, 1932, Congress fostered broader interdepartmental procurement whereby one federal agency would buy goods and services from another, rather than from private industry," James F. Nagel, The History of Government Contracting, (The George Washington University, page 362).

Transportation of Non-Department of Defense Goods

Title 31 of the United States Code (The Economy Act) prohibits DOD from transporting non-DOD goods and people unless (1) it is in the national interest, (2) commercial transportation is not available, (3) the request is sponsored by a Federal government executive agency, and (4) the sponsoring agency agrees to reimburse DOD for the cost of transporting the goods or people

This is the reason that National Guard Aircraft sat on the ground around the country, while FEMA task force members sat in southern Texas during Katrina, and where not able to get the team into New Orleans.  ALL commercial transportation MUST be exhausted before National Guard assets can be deployed.  Thereby the scenario of flying fire teams from Eagle, to Kremmling cannot happen until all commercial transportation has been exhausted.  To further complicate the situation, the cost of chartering a commercial airlift of this magnitude could make this whole plan impossible to accomplish.