A Safe Homeland

Considering the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)has only initiated actions in 2003, it has performed necessary security procedures and accomplished significant purposes and breakthroughs. As DHS progresses to grow, more activity predominates for them to address weaknesses in its current operational strategy. Implementation efforts are in place to strengthen the efficiency and to integrate its management areas (acquisitions, financial management, human capital, and information technology), yet they continue to face significant difficulties that have influenced the department 's capacity to satisfy its missions.

To keep our great nation safe requires the combined effort of a multitude of agencies and groups nationwide. The US homeland is the physical region that includes the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, US territories, and surrounding 500 nautical miles of territorial waters and airspace (Joint Chiefs of Staff, 2013). The keep the countries boarders secure and over 324 million Americans safe is a massive task and this broad stroke program involves federal government including the military, federal, state, local, tribal areas and the private sector along with other governments with shared interests. According to The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) there are three key concepts that are the foundation of America’s homeland security strategy.

Ensuring the safety of the American people and homeland is the first and most fundamental obligation of the American government. Current policies are not fulfilling that obligation and are unlikely to do so if continued. This planning exercise has therefore focused exclusively on the problems that threaten the safety and prosperity of the American people and on ways of ensuring their security today and into the future. No secondary considerations – democracy promotion, humanitarian activities, or support and expansion of American values, for example – have been allowed to intrude into our deliberations, despite the importance we and many Americans attach to each.

There are five homeland security missions are preventing terrorism and enhancing security, securing and managing our borders, enforcing and administering our immigration laws, safeguarding and securing cyberspace and ensuring resilience to disasters (U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2010). Preventing a terrorist attack in the United States remains the foundation of homeland security. Accomplishing this idea entails us to emphasis on the primary goal of preventing terrorist attacks, emphasizing the challenges of preventing attacks using CBRN weapons and handling risks to critical infrastructure. A safe and secure homeland demands that we uphold applicable control of our air, land, and sea borders. Secure, well-managed borders should not just protect the United States versus threats from abroad they need to also accelerate the safe movement of legal travel and trade. It is also vital to encourage legal immigration, accelerate

Understanding Homeland Security’s (HS) mission, tasks, duties, responsibilities, and operations is important. It is important because providing security is necessary to protect this country. HS can have different meaning and is a topic of debate for many scholars who try and define HS. This is not a debate or the focus, and HS needs to be a team effort by all Americans to keep this nation free (Bellavita, 2008). One thing for sure is that terrorism needs to be checked on a daily basis. Many agencies work together providing security to prevent terrorist attacks to the homeland. According to Bellavita (2008), federal, state and local governments, by the private sector, and by individuals all have a homeland role in preventing terrorist attacks within the United States. Additionally, providing security is challenging because America has a surrounding ocean from east to west, and to the south. Also, Canada is to the north and the borders span a numerous amount of miles. Where would HS’s mission fall when all these borders need protection? One mission for HS is to provide necessary resources to protect and prevent terrorist attacks. When resources are determined, other federal agencies may get involved to determine how the resources can be utilized to provide security (Cusic, 2009).

The National Security Council is a forum for the president to consider issues of national security and foreign policy with his national security advisers and senior cabinet officials. The problem of national security strategy is that it causes many conflicts and arguments. There are many definitions of concepts of national security. Traditionally security means, first, as the physical survival of the state, protection and preservation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity, the ability to react adequately to potential and real external threats. The date September 11, 2001 has changed the way the world began to perceive their own security threats and related to these threats. As for security and US approach, the White House has released its new "National Security Strategy" in 2002 establishing a pattern for eventual war against terrorism. ("The Whitehouse National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace.". Network Security2002, no. 10 (2002): 2-3. doi:10.1016/s1353-4858(02)10002-x). The argument presented here today will hopefully answer the question “Why is it so difficult to develop and implement a successful national security strategy”? This paper is an analysis of the strategy plan of national security of the United States specifically after the attacks of Sept. 11. The National Security Strategy is poor, especially in relation to national warfare threats.

The vision of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is “to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards” (United States Department of Homeland Security, 2015). To achieve this vision, DHS has developed five core missions these are, “to prevent terrorism and enhance security, to secure and manage US borders, to ensure and administer immigration laws, to safeguard and secure cyberspace, and to ensure resilience to disasters.”

The creation of the Department of Homeland Security has improved emergency response dramatically over the last 15 years in many areas, however, other areas are still deficient. Even though DHS is making great strides the task is often daunting and challenging, some efforts have fallen short and possibly need to be discontinued. Effective homeland security requires a more decentralized approach in working with state, local and private sectors, which can be seen in immigration enforcement and Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Since 9/11 the DHS has taken monumental movements in thwarting terrorist

For the Pentagon one of its top priorities is protecting the citizens and shores of the United States of America. In order to protect its borders, the Pentagon needs a National Security strategy that outlines how the US will protect its interests and allies while providing stability to certain regions of the world and how to prevent terror from reaching its shores. One national security expert, Dr. Thomas P.M. Barnett, wrote a book called The Pentagon’s New Map: War and Peace in the Twenty-First Century. His book describes his theory that he believes the US should follow to protect itself and its interests abroad, how the theory applies to future operational environments, and challenges, opportunities and threats within the theory.

For years, United Stated has been fighting terrorism and it is only getting worse. To fully understand terrorism, it starts at the top level of the enterprise, which is the Department of Homeland Security. It’s their responsibility to ensure that all security and law enforcement personnel follow the proper procedures and established requirements. A well-defined strategy, and communications program ensures all levels of management and employees understand the goals of the securing the nation. The key is to have a plan before one has become a victim. The issue that needs to be resolved is the change of transition from response, and recovery functions to prevention and assembling exact

Do to the overabundance of issues and difficulties involved in combating terrorism the United States will never completely end the threat of terrorist violence. For the last few decades, the U.S. has dealt with it fair share of terrorist incidents. These incidents have ranged from individuals with an axe to grind, small groups demanding social and political change, to attacks from transnational organizations with the intent to demoralize and destroy the United States. In order to protect its citizens and interests worldwide, the U.S. has committed to ending the terrorist threat. To accomplish this, the United States has utilized the military in various capacities, as well as all relevant political means. While these actions are normally effective

The National Security Strategy (NSS) document represents a broad collection of different sensibilities and offers a tentative synthesis of different if not contradictory beliefs of American officials inside the administration. The document serves to set administration priorities inside the government and communicate them to Congress, the American people and the world. It also is intended as a framework for strategy documents produced by other parts of the government, including the Pentagon's national defense strategy. The NSS is not strictly a formal exercise; in practice it serves as a reference and justification for actual policy choices. In the coming months, the current administration will frequently quote this document to present and justify its

The National Security Strategy and Quadrennial Defense Review of 2010 set the National Military Objectives as countering violent extremism, deterring and defeating aggression, strengthening international and regional security, and shaping the future force. Just a few years later, after legislators caused massive cuts to defense budgets due to sequestration and as the nation began to draw down its commitment in Afghanistan, the Quadrennial Defense Review of 2014 outlined the Department of Defense’s strategy as emphasizing three pillars. The first, protecting the homeland, includes deterring and defeating attacks on the nation and supporting civil authorities. The second, building security globally, focuses on

The threat of terrorism is constantly growing and evolving. As such, our response to acts of terrorism must evolve with it. With the increased security posture at many of our larger cities with industries, municipal buildings, and other large venues that would be desirable terrorist targets, it is possible that extremists will turn to targeting smaller, less prepared targets such as state and local facilities. After the attacks on September 11th 2001, our nation has established the Department of Homeland Security as well as sections within other departments of the federal government tasked specifically with protecting the homeland from internal

The 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) recognizes the challenges presented by this transitional period and offers three pillars as a strategic framework within which to rebalance the Joint Force. These are to protect the homeland, build security globally, and project power and win decisively. These pillars link the four enduring national interests with the role of the military as the protection and projection instrument of national power. The first pillar is tied directly to the foremost national interest of preserving the security of the U.S., and to the core objective of the military to deter and defeat attacks on the country. The second and third pillars are linked to the remaining national interests of an open international economy, respect for universal values, and rules-based international order. Collectively, these three pillars implicitly task the Joint Force with ensuring that the U.S. can protect itself and defeat adversaries, and as a global leader, project power and influence, and protect its interests in an unstable international environment.