The Department Of Homeland Security : The Department Of Homeland Security

During my tenure with NTB, I have undertaken complex engineering and project work within the boundaries of the Navy Technical Regulatory Framework (NTRF) to successfully deliver technical products and services for the acquisition and sustainment of Minor War Vessels (MWV) for the RAN. In the naval context, these includes specification and validation of compliance with Platform System Requirements for the current and future ships through the development of material specification for maritime capability certification assurance process and provide technical naval system advice to naval community that is accurate, on time and pragmatic.

1. Is the "war on terrorism" truly a war? In your opinion, how has the New Terrorism affected and redefined how nations pursue warlike options?

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security was formed more than a decade ago with a very significant mission of safeguarding America's homeland from hazards, threats, and national disasters. This department conducts its mission through securing the country's borders, preventing terror attacks, and responding to incidents or threats to its citizens (Miller, n.d.). Generally, the most important roles of the Department of Homeland Security are to lead a concerted national effort in securing the United States and preserving the American way of life. The department was established in 2002 in reaction to the 9/11 terror attacks and has since developed a nationwide strategic plan for evaluating and updating its mission statement and effectiveness of operations. These plans can be updated and transformed to accomplish the needs of the Department for Homeland Security and the American people.

Intelligence and Warning is Border and Transportation Security is responsible for protecting America's borders, territorial waters, and transportation systems by centralizing information-sharing and databases that track and monitor all aspects of border control and America's transportation systems. Domestic Counterterrorism covers a wide variety of activities, ranging from National Security Agency monitoring of telephone conversations to local police monitoring of persons of interest. Protecting Critical Infrastructure and Key Assets identifies a clear set of national goals and objectives and outlines the guiding principles that will underpin our efforts to secure the infrastructures and assets vital to our national security, governance, public health and safety, economy, and public confidence. Defending against Catastrophic Threats reduces vulnerability of the United States to terrorism. Emergency Preparedness and Response will create one emergency response plan to be used at all levels of government and will ensure that first-responders, from the federal government level down to local levels, receive proper training and equipment.

As a Chief executive, the president’s main duties are to enforce and execute laws however they see fit. The President signs executive orders directing law enforcement agencies, including the agencies that enforce immigration laws, that has “prosecutorial discretion”– the power to decide whom to investigate, arrest, detain, charge, and prosecute. The Agencies may develop discretionary policies specific to the laws they are charged with enforcing, the population they serve, and the problem they face. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may decide how to prioritize its resources in order to meet its stated enforcement goals that are set by the President. With executive unilateral powers the president, drafts policies without and sometimes over the objection of Congress or the courts. The President can design policies regarding the immigration matter without approval of Congress, he can simply follow the former presidents’ footsteps on immigration laws. I am making the argument that U.S. President does have too much unilateral power.

Since the attack on the United States of America on 9/11, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was established to aid the country in preventing such a horrific event or future threats from happening to the citizens. DHS has had a clean record so far and it seems to be doing a great job in deterring the terrorist’s threats from reaching the American population. There has been no serious terror attack on the United States soil since the establishing of DHS. This is not an easy feat since there are so many rules and agencies that feed intelligence, support, equipment, and personnel to this large department. To have coordination of over twenty-two agencies and ensure they are all working together is a task that may seem impossible but it is one that DHS has hit upon head-on. All the agencies must be aware of the intelligence and actions and risks that are prevalent so as to prepare themselves. Then the next hurdle is to gather intelligence and information from the citizens without violating the Patriot Act which protects the rights of the people. There is a fine line that must be monitored and not crossed in fear of interfering on someone’s rights. In some instances the people will not comply with DHS and therefore they receive a negative aspect from the population. If DHS is not able to gather intelligence from the people without infringing on their rights, what makes them so sure that the department will protect them?

The events of September 11th, 2001 forever changed the organizational make-up of Emergency Management. Prior to 9/11, FEMA was the premier organization in the United States that dealt with any sort of disaster management. While FEMA was not without its own particular struggles early on, it had grown into an effective program; often emulated by other Governments for its effectiveness. As the primary Emergency Management function for the United States it was afforded a cabinet level position; thus allowing direct access to the President (Haddow, Bullock, & Coppola, 2011). Functioning as its own entity, FEMA was also able to spend its money as they saw fit, develop its own hierarchy, and most importantly; decide which natural disasters/emergencies to focus a majority of their resources on. Unfortunately for FEMA all of that was lost with the creation of The Department of Homeland Security (DHS). According to (Haddow, Bullock, & Coppola, 2011), “In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, when the Department of Homeland Security was established and FEMA lost its status as an independent agency, emergency management became a minor player” (p. 343). The shift from a focus on natural disasters, to a focus on terrorism has been detrimental for FEMA. First and foremost, FEMA lost its cabinet position and the direct line to the President that it was afforded. While funding was accelerated to DHS in quantities never before seen in emergency management, FEMA, being a subordinate of

The idea of securing the nation’s borders and securing the safety of the citizens has been a major topic since the beginning of the nation’s existence. There have always been means and procedures for it but it was never defined to the point it is today. The Homeland Security Department is a fairly new program which is constantly improving and adjusting in accordance to the threats that may arise. In the attempt to secure the United States, homeland security has become paramount and a lot of emphasis is being provided so as to ensure the safety of the borders and the citizens of the United States. So one must ponder what the difference between homeland security and homeland defense are since they both tend to mean the same

An obstacle that arises in securing ships and ports is that of travelling to foreign ports. Security professionals are are encouraging the United States government to extend U.S. boundaries to foreign ports, which would put much emphasis on security at loading points (70). The fear is that attackers will board a ship at a foreign port and sail to American soil where they could practice terrorism. A way that shipping security has changed is that of the plan of the Container Security Initiative (CSI), which calls for international security criteria to identify high-risk cargo containers for pre-screening at their point of shipment (70). The Coast Guard has also increased patrols in the U.S. ports and waterways, specifically around the nation’s critical petro-chemical facilities (71). By 2004, The International Ship and Port Facility Security Code took effect requiring ship operators to develop security plans, appoint ship and company security officers and maintain a minimum level of on board security, while port officers are required to develop similar plans and hire a port facility security officer (71). This code made it mandatory for all ships to be secure both while still in ports and also while travelling. Not only does this protect passengers aboard the ship, but also citizens of the United States as threats cannot enter the country through shipping

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a proposed rule, on December 30, 2015, entitled "Retention of EB1, EB2, and EB3 Immigrant Workers and Program Improvements Affecting High-Skilled Nonimmigrant Workers." Included in the proposed rule is the long-awaited provision for the ability to obtain an employment authorization document (EAD) based on an approved form I-140, employer petition. Unfortunately, eligibility for this immigration benefit under the proposal is highly restrictive and therefore will aid a far narrower group of foreign national workers than had been hoped.

The main goal of this unit is to provide safe use for all boaters of the public waters. The benefits to a marine patrol can decrease boating intoxicated incidents and lessen the possibility of drowning’s. Improve the response time to remote areas that cannot be accessed by car or truck. Decrease in criminal activity in areas located near water and overall increase water safety and public relations. The cons of the marine patrol normally involve critical tactical training curriculums in addition to the regular training required of law enforcement personnel. Sometimes weather condition will not allow patrols to properly police an area or responded when needed increasing response time to calls for service. Having limited funding and the number of qualified law enforcement personnel to operate the vessels and equipment puts a strain on the unit, not to mention their capabilities at night are

waterways, making sure traffic flows in a safe and efficient manner.6)Living Marine Resources - Enforces domestic fishing laws through patrols and inspections.7)Ice Operations - Helps transport goods and personnel in connection with scientific and national security efforts in polar regions. Also breaks through ice with specialized ships and keeps track of icebergs to help direct commercial vessels.8) Marine Safety - Sets safety standards and inspects commercial vessels to ensure those standards are being maintained. 9)Marine Environmental Protection - Prevents and responds to oil and chemical spills, stops illegal dumping in U.S. waters and works prevent an invasive plant and animal species.10)Illegal Drug Interdiction - Uses sea vessels and aircraft to intercept illegal drug shipments and collect intelligence.11)Fish Stock Protection - Ensures foreigners don’t raid U.S. fish stocks.

The Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system (UAS) is a maritime variant of the Air Force’s high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) RQ-4B Global Hawk (Government Accountability Office [GAO], 2015). The Triton, previously known as the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) UAS, is a component of the Maritime Patrol Reconnaissance Force (MPRF) family of systems (Naval Air Systems Command [NAVAIR], 2014). It “…is intended to provide persistent maritime intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capability” (GAO, 2015, p. 115) in order to increase the intelligence capability and situational awareness of tactical, operational and strategic units (NAVAIR, 2014). Triton mission capabilities include, but are not limited to:

Enhanced technology has vastly improved the security of port facilities by allowing for more secure monitoring of persons and goods that enter and exit the port. For example, at one Florida port, "the optical character recognition devices designed into the main cargo gate processing center are used to acquire the container, chassis, and truck license plate numbers of cargo-carrying vehicles as they pass through the array. The information is relayed to a remote command and control center staffed by port facility security staff for use in generating a gate pass" (247). A nation's ports are a critical component of ensuring the security of all of the nation's borders. Ports are also well-poised to acquire information and intelligence about potential threats. Technology allows for 24/7 monitoring, even when the ports are closed and increases the ability of security personnel to be watchful over all comings and goings. Q2. What is continuity of operations planning?

U.S. Dept. of State (n.d.). Office of Cooperative Threat Reduction. Retrieved October 30, 2017, from https://www.state.gov/t/isn/offices/c55411.htm