The research problem is Anne Arundel County Government has failed to fully implement the incident management practices in accordance with the National Response Plan, which could adversely impact already limited fiscal resources, as well as, limit the effectiveness of mitigation efforts, during large scale emergencies. The purpose of this research was to identify challenges and make recommendations regarding the practical implementation of the command/compliance objective of the National Incident Management System, which will enable Anne Arundel County to maintain critical federal government funding, and improve the level of service to the citizens in a time of crisis.Research questions included: (1) How have other agencies implemented NIMS and with what level of success; (2) What is Anne Arundel County's current level of readiness for disaster operations as it relates to the NIMS command/management compliance objectives; (3) How do service providers, both public and private, view the role of the emergency management agency; and (4) What factors contribute to complacency regarding NIMS compliance? The descriptive research method was used to answer these questions. The researcher circulated surveys to affected stakeholders. Results indicated that Anne Arundel County should take several steps to improve NIMS competency, as well as compliance.Recommendations included: (a) Anne Arundel County should re-focus training efforts to ensure that entry level and non-supervisory employees are trained to the level appropriate for their area of responsibility; (b) Anne Arundel County should increase the frequency and scope of NIMS compliant exercises to include all state, local and private sector partners; (c) The Anne Arundel County Office of Emergency Management should coordinate county-wide training efforts; (d) The Anne Arundel Office of Emergency Management should take advantage of available resources to implement a "train the trainer program" that can be used to provide quality instruction county-wide; (e) Anne Arundel County should incorporate NIMS organizational principles into the daily operations of all County agencies; and (f) Anne Arundel County should require all agencies to utilize NIMS processes for all planned and special events.