The Federal Mission Resilience Strategy is a document that builds upon continuity policy and accelerates the evolution of our Federal Government to become more resilient against all threats and conditions through an enduring structure of distributed risk and capability. The FMRS supports the National Security Strategy by shifting national continuity policy implementation to better address emerging threats to essential functions. The FMRS aligns continuity policy
implementation with the model of “assess, distribute, and sustain” by reducing emphasis on relocating personnel to alternate locations and increasing emphasis on distribution and devolution to minimize disruptions to essential functions and services. The shift in policy implementation is to increase the capability and capacity to continually perform essential functions in a distributed environment to mitigate the threats of renewed adversary competition. Through the application of risk management and continuity of operations principles, the increased resilience of day-to-day mission operations will ensure continuous performance of essential functions and services regardless of circumstances. “Essential functions and services” refers to the functions (e.g., National Essential Functions [NEFs], and Primary Mission Essential Functions [PMEFs]), services, systems, activities, and capabilities necessary to preserve and sustain the American way of life.