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.

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

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?

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.

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.

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 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

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 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:

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

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

With the majority of Earth’s surface covered by water, the most efficient and cost effective way to transport goods is across that water in ships, due to buoyancy. Ships allow for massive amounts of goods to be transported at once, but these slow, cargo laden ships pose an attractive target to thieves. Piracy causes costly disturbances and dangers that lead to billions of dollars in losses because of captured ships, loss of goods, and the ransoming of the crew. Because of the impact of piracy on the profits and safety of maritime transport companies, several measures have been taken to prevent the capturing of vessels or discourage the pirates wanting to attack the vessel. Efforts to create new technology to prevent pirate boarding and security have developed several methods to deal with attacks. The goal of making the vessels more difficult to attack and too dangerous to steal from, has been the focal point of the research and development. The UN has endeavored to solve the effects that piracy caused on international trade, but at the cost not addressing the problems that the piracy originated from. The current merchant marine efforts to deter and defend against piracy have been effective in dropping the levels of raids in recent years.

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?

The notion of managing the movement of ships through a shore-side radar station is ordinarily acknowledged to have originated in the port of Liverpool in 1949. In 1956, the Netherlands built a radar station procedure for the surveillance of port traffic at the Rotterdam. As VTS developed and spread in Western Europe, the business well being of the port was the stimulus for new or extended administration (Maritime and Coastguard Agency, 2012). This posed a sharp contrast with the U.S. experience where the first Federal (Coast Guard) VTS was an outgrowth of a 1968 examination and improvement venture in San Francisco Bay called Harbor Advisory Radar. It was participation and advisory activity in the framework was voluntary. Because it was voluntary, few vessels offered to give free support to VTS administration (Freestone & IJlstra, 2010).

These systems mainly are necessary for improved collision avoidance of ships especially in areas with heavy traffic moving such as sea channels, approaching to anchorages and inside of seaports. Using standalone GPS or GLONASS data these systems can provide spe