wk1 rply 302

Instructions: Please respond to the following  students. Responses should be a minimum of 150 words and include direct questions.

Responses Due: Sunday, by 1300pm, ET

Student # 1

Homeland Defense:

The best description I have found to define Homeland Defense is from the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) White Paper. This paper detailed the Army’s approach to Homeland Defense. It states that the protection of our territory, population, and critical infrastructure by deterring and defending against foreign and domestic threats, supporting civil authorities for crisis and consequence management, and helping to ensure the continuance of critical national assets (Department of the Army 1999, 1).

The Department of Defense (DOD) is the primary agency that protects the U.S. homeland through various ways. They have two main missions: (1) homeland defense, which defends against threats such as terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, and Cyber incidents; and (2) civil support, which involves supporting other federal agencies in responding to major domestic disasters (Hurricane Katrina), emergencies, and special events (Foreign Summits).

Homeland Security:

Although this term is relatively new, the concept of securing our way of life and resources goes back to when our country was founded. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the American public and the world had a wake-up call to what terrorism really is! In the ensuing aftermath of those attacks, the federal government directed by the president created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Through the new law: the USA PATRIOT Act. DHS was created specifically to address the threat of terrorism, bringing together twenty-two federal entities with critical homeland security missions into a single agency with the primary mission to protect our homeland against terrorist threats. (Understanding Homeland Security, Noftsinger, J.; 2007.

The breadth of stakeholders involved in Homeland Security is vast. It encompasses City, state, Federal, Territorial, Tribal, private organizations as well as individuals. It goes beyond the reach of just the Department of Homeland Security. The need for Homeland Security is far reaching and vital to our national interests!

 Student # 2

The concept of Homeland Security is a rather broad subject but is basically the preparation to be attacked and how we will attack or counteract these potential events. Homeland defense is what i originally thought was homeland security and that is the protection of critical infrastructure on the United States to include Land, Aerospace, and Maritime. Homeland security encompasses everything involved in homeland defense such a defending against drugs, terrorist attacks, and even human trafficking. Homeland security is the preparation and planning for homeland defense. Homeland security in our reading this week describes the areas in which it encompasses. Homeland defense is described in theses sections as it is the act that we take on the threats of the world. For example in the readings is says " Preventing terrorism in the United States is the cornerstone of homeland security. Ensuring that malicious actors cannot conduct terrorist attacks within the United States, preventing the illicit or hostile use of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) materials or capabilities within the Unites States, and managing risks to our critical infrastructure and key resources helps us realize our vision of a secure and resilient Nation." (Quadrennial, 2010, pg38). Terrorism has become the number one threat that we are trying to defend ourselves from. Homeland security is consistently developing intel and identifying patterns so homeland defense can go and sieze the objective and continue to protect our country and interests. Homeland defense could be described as the operator while homeland security is more of the brains of the operation. HLS gives HLD the information and targets and HLD goes out and hunts them down. Understanding the objective is half the battle in the complex world that we live in. If we cannot understand why our enemies are going to attack and where then we will never be able to defend ourselves. Making the predictions based on data from HLS give HLD the initiative to grab said terrorist before he can strike and harm anyone in our own country.