Quietly and without much fanfare, the National Guard's multi-mission CERFPs have become key units in federal as well as state plans to deal with mass-casualty incidents on the U.S. homeland.
Attendees at the DHS security "summit" conference last month represented a broad spectrum of small-vessel operators and other stakeholders. The consensus verdict: Much was accomplished, but much more remains to be done.
The U.S. National Guard, already heavily committed in Iraq, faces an even more daunting challenge: protection of the U.S. homeland. DPJ's managing editor discusses the Vigilant Guard exercise series with senior National Guard officials.
Leading U.S. trainer in WMD defense gives a situation report on WMD response in Eastern Europe and Central Asia giving high marks to the three Baltic republics, Slovenia and Romania.
HazMat and EMS technicians across the nation will be working from the same text, thanks to new biological-sampling techniques developed by the American Society for Testing and Materials.
West Point's Combating Terrorism Center plays a key role as U.S. colleges and universities upgrade their curricula to meet the new challenges of the 21st century.
While U.S. hazardous-materials response teams are still learning to cope with early-model improvised explosive devices, upgraded "new" versions are being developed that pose an even greater challenge.
Terrorist suicide-homicide bomber attacks used to be isolated incidents; in Iraq they are now daily occurrences. The same rare-to-frequent pattern may soon hit the United States, & police agencies should be, but are not, prepared to handle such attacks.
PortSTEP is the latest member of a growing family of exercise & training programs mandated to ensure that first-responder agencies are fully prepared to meet the ever-increasing challenges posed by terrorist attacks & mass-casualty events.
The acquisition and operation of multipurpose high-tech communications systems is one of the more important goals of U.S. decision makers at all levels of government. The cost of these systems, though, is beyond the reach of many smaller cities.
