What specific measures, programs or policies did they implement, or fail to implement, that helped or hindered civil defense, emergency management, or homeland security?

HSMN 670- Mid-Term Essay Exam
Please review the Syllabus, as well as the Guidelines, Expectations and Grading Rubrics for the Essay Exams, and follow the instructions below:
-Please include a cover sheet with the course title, a sub-title of “Mid-Term Essay Exam,” and the date of submission. Do not include your name anywhere on the exam.
-Respond to both questions from each session, for a total of ten responses. Please don’t repeat or restate the questions, as Turnitin will “hit” on those as if they were quotes. Just indicate the corresponding question number for each response.
-Your responses should be clear, complete, succinct and substantive, addressing all of the main themes, elements or sub-questions in each overall question selected.
-Your own critical thinking and analysis should be supported by evidence of research in appropriate sources such as assigned or supplementary sources used in this course, or from other scholarly/authoritative sources found in your own research, with source attribution and in-text citations in your responses in proper APA format for all conclusions, statements of fact, quotations, ideas or other supporting content.
-Please do not cite my PowerPoint presentations, or any comments from others in discussion forums, although you may repeat or expand on some of your own comments from the forums with no need for citations.
-This is not a research paper, so please don’t overdo it in terms of direct quotes, paraphrasing, or citations. At the same time, while I want to see what you think about these topics, I’m not looking merely for opinions; rather, well-reasoned arguments or assertions supported by evidence with at least a few citations from authoritative sources. The challenge is to maintain a high proportion of original work and limit the use of material quoted or paraphrased from the sources you cited.
-UMGC requires the use of an accepted manual of style for citations, as indicated in the Syllabus. APA is preferred.
-Please include a single overall list of References or Works Cited at the end of the exam rather than piecemeal after each response, with full citations in proper APA 7th edition format.
-Make sure to follow a single, correct, consistent citation style for both in-text citations in your responses and full citations in the list of References or Works Cited; don’t “mix-and-match” APA with other styles in the same exam.
-Do not reproduce lists, tables, charts, graphs, figures or images, as these are not appropriate for essay exams.
-Proofread and edit your replies for organization, coherence, sentence structure, grammar and spelling.
-Your responses should be in Times New Roman, size 11 or 12 font, and may be either single or double-spaced.
-Please include pagination (i.e., insert sequential page numbers).
-Your completed exam should total approximately 8-10 pages (a minimum of about one page per response—a little more is better than a little less, with 250- 300 words per page), up to a maximum of 15 pages, excluding the cover sheet and list of References or Works Cited.
-Submit the completed exam as a MS Word doc attachment into Assignment folder linked under the Week 6 folder of the Content area in LEO, no later than 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday night, June 29, 2021. Requests for extensions must be approved in advance.
-Remember, you may submit drafts and generate Turnitin Originality/Similarity Reports for yourself and make revisions until the final version is due. There is no official UMGC policy on this, but I recommend trying to limit your Similarity score to a range of less than 20%.
-The exam will be scored according to the Written Assignments and Final Paper Grading Rubrics attached in the Assignment folder.
Your exam is as follows. There are two multi-part questions relating to each of the five weekly sessions in terms of the main topics, assigned readings and discussion forum questions we have covered thus far in each sequential week. You may see that some of the questions (but not all) reflect a synthesis or expansion of some of the discussion forum topics. Respond to all ten questions—both from each week or session:
Week 1: Introduction to Homeland Security and Critical Infrastructure.
1.) Based on your review of the DHS document Civil defense and homeland security: A short history of preparedness effort, or any other relevant sources from your own research, which presidential administration do you believe did the most to improve or advance civil defense, emergency management or homeland security, and which did the least? What specific measures, programs or policies did they implement, or fail to implement, that helped or hindered civil defense, emergency management, or homeland security? The DHS document’s chronology ended with the Bush administration mid-way through his second term, but you may also consider the Obama and Trump administrations (probably a bit too early to evaluate the Biden administration!). Explain and support your selection with specific examples.
2.) Assume that you are a high-level homeland security advisor for the new president, and that you have been tasked with developing a proposal for him regarding what approach he should take toward defining homeland security, and what type of national homeland security strategy, policies, emphasis and priorities he should endorse. Would you recommend that homeland security should focus exclusively on the threat of terrorism, or on some combination of major issues such as terrorism, border and immigration security, cybersecurity, and or public health preparedness, or should it be genuinely “all-hazards,” including a variety of man-made or natural disasters? What definition of homeland security would you recommend for him? Should the president keep homeland security as a sub-component of a new national security strategy, or should he promulgate a separate national strategy for homeland security as Pres. G.W. Bush did?
Week 2: The National Critical Infrastructure. (Select and respond to one question for Week 2)
3.) What is your reaction to Riedman’s thesis in his journal article? Make sure to provide a balanced assessment, evaluating specific points or elements (if any) that you find accurate or reasonable, and those (if any) that you consider misguided, unrealistic, objectionable, or lacking supporting evidence. Overall, do you agree that terrorist groups lack the capabilities or incentive to attack our national critical infrastructure? Why, or why not? Have there actually been more attempted or successful attacks against our critical infrastructure than Riedman acknowledges? If so, provide specific examples of major incidents, or types of incidents. If not, what might motivate terrorist groups to conduct large-scale attacks against CI facilities, systems, or sectors, and who would be the most likely aggressors?
4.) Considering that many sources estimate that about 85% of our nation’s critical infrastructure is owned and operated by the private sector, what do you believe are the appropriate roles and responsibilities of the federal, state and local governments and the private sector, respectively, in terms of security for critical infrastructure key resources? Are there any practical and defensible incentives that the government should offer private industry to enhance security, or are strict mandates and regulation the answer? What, if any, circumstances would require the government to assume full responsibility and expense for protection of any particular CI/KR sector, system or facility? If you were a senior industry representative (e.g. CEO, corporate security director, or executive director of a trade or industry association) called to testify before a Congressional committee about enhancing security in any of the CI/KR sectors in which you operate, what would you recommend in terms of national policy?
Week 3: Critical Infrastructure Elements and Sectors (Part 1).
5.) In your assigned readings and the discussion forum topics, a number of initiatives (behavioral profiling of passengers, cargo container inspections, background checks for airport workers, etc.) for improving aviation security were discussed. Some observers have cast doubts on the effectiveness of many of the TSA procedures. In terms of technology, “puffer” devices were tried at airports to detect explosives residue, but later abandoned. There has also been controversy regarding “backscatter” body scanners or full body imaging technologies (often referred to as “virtual strip search” scanners), or intensive pat-downs implemented by TSA. There has also been controversy about the TSA’s Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques (SPOT) program for behavioral detection, about the effectiveness of the Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS) or Federal Flight Deck Officer Program, and about the TSA Pre✓® or other DHS Trusted
. There have also been media reports about firearms or other weapons being smuggled or accidentally carried aboard aircraft despite security measures. A few years ago, the TSA generated controversy by announcing a new policy that passengers would now be allowed to carry small knives and some sports equipment when boarding planes. If you were a senior TSA official, how would you defend the current level or type of security measures being employed? How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected aviation security? What about the growing hazard posed by UAVs (drones) around airports? What would be your top three priorities to improve security for commercial passenger flights for the next year? Provide some specific references to support your choices.
6.) What do you believe are the most significant vulnerabilities, threats, hazards and challenges regarding maritime port and cargo security? What mitigation, prevention and protection measures would you recommend as most effective to deter, detect or defend against possible terrorist attacks or the smuggling of WMD in cargo containers? Can technology applications such as X-Ray screening devices, the use of specially trained canine teams, or other methods and technologies solve the problem? What should the respective roles and responsibilities of the federal, state or local governments, as well as the private sector owners, operators or shippers, be for implementing these measures? What do you see as the main points or issues concerning international or bilateral agreements or initiatives, and the security responsibilities of other nations from which cargo is shipped to the United States?
Week 4: Critical Infrastructure Elements and Sectors (Part 2).
7.) Conduct brief research online to identify an example of a critical incident, emergency or disaster involving a chemical plant or facility in the U.S. or another country in the last few decades. Provide a brief overview of the incident, including what caused it, the hazards it posed, the impacts or consequences that occurred, who was deemed responsible, and what penalties (if any) were imposed on that entity. Also, analyze lessons learned in terms of mitigation, preparedness, response. If this was an incident involving an American facility since CFATS was implemented, what conclusions could be drawn regarding CFATS compliance or enforcement?
8.) One of the assumptions listed in the original 2010 Quadrennial Homeland Security Review concerning the security environment was that “there is a danger of complacency as major crises recede.” Do you believe this actually happens—that Americans become complacent after even catastrophic or traumatic events such as the 9/11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina? Why or why not? Is there a difference between emergency responders and the general public in this regard? Did the experiences of Superstorm Sandy or the Boston Marathon Bombing reduce complacency and revive our national commitment to preparedness, or had a high degree of complacency already resurfaced leading up to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria, Michael, Florence or Dorian making landfall? Have we as a nation already begun showing signs of complacency regarding terrorism, the ongoing Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic, wildfires in the western U.S., or hurricanes? What would you propose be done to prevent or limit this backsliding into complacency? How, if at all, does the problem of complacency affect or relate to the concept of resilience?
Week 5: Protecting the Water Supply.
9.) Much of the water infrastructure is managed and controlled remotely via SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems. Typically, these are connected to networks, such as the Internet, where hackers might engage in malicious activity. Recent news reports reveal that hackers have been very aggressive in their efforts to seize control of these systems in power plants and other vital infrastructure facilities such as water treatment plants. Do you think private and local authorities understand and have prepared for this potential threat of a cyber attack on the water system? Provide at least three specific actions or measures you believe would be necessary and effective to enhance security and mitigate or protect against this particular threat, and defend your recommendations.
10.) Considering the familiar axiom, “the solution to pollution is dilution,” do you believe that the water sector is highly vulnerable? If so, which specific elements, systems, facilities or processes seem most vulnerable? Or, do you believe the threat to our water systems or supplies is exaggerated, and that this CI/KR sector is not really all that vulnerable, or that terrorists would not be attracted to those targets because it would be too difficult to create mass casualties or actual terror through attacking the water system due to the sheer volume of water diluting any potential contaminants? What about wastewater systems? How, if at all, would interdependencies between the water sector and other CI/KR sectors affect your view? Support your assertions and conclusions with logical arguments and evidence from research in authoritative sources.

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