Terrorism Money - Where will it go?

[Semper Fire]

Lately we have heard much of added funding for federal programs - bringing back the Sky Marshal program of the 70's - New money for 75,000 new career firefighters -- And we now hear of addded terrorism training funding.

My question is this- When all of the hooplah dies down, where will this money go?

After the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, and the 1995 attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Building in OKC there was a large increase in funding for anti-terrorism initiatives --- and now several years later, we realize that many of these dollars were given to the Department of Justice?? And they are involved in the fire service how???

I'll agree with everyone that what happened in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pannsylvania where horrible, and despicable acts -- but there is a flurry now for 'anti-terrorism' training....
Gee, I have some training ideas -
Common sense security procedures
Improvised Explosive Devices recognition training
Increased vigilance


I'll agree that there is a need for additional training -- but it isn't necessary for us to have training in anti-terrorism, leave that to the people that are supposed to STOP terrorism, our job is to respond and mitigate the effects of the terrorist act -- e.g. - Building collapse, Mass Casualty Incidents, Fire, Explosions, etc...


Please give me your thoughts.

[kfd232]

I too have wondered exactly what and why this terrorism training is?
I think you hit the nail on the head. We need to be trained in how to handle the results of a terrorist attack. We also need to get our staffing levels brought back up to have the manpower needed on an incident. I still think that within 2 years we will see things slipping back into the way they used to be.


be safe brothers

[firemangeorge]

Here in Cincy we've been through the first module of terrorism training. I found it to be quite informative. We went through it about four years ago. Sorry guys, but we do indeed need the anti-terrorism part. There is more to an act than just the initial situation to be ready for. Secondary device, suspicious persons, wide field of awareness, cautious advancement, recognizing a terrorist act. Most of the things they covered in the class were things I had not considered prior. Firefighters tend to get tunnel vision on a scene and overlook other potential dangers and evidence, as well as rushing in at times when we should be staging. I recommmend that if your dept can get the funding, go to the training. Your department should already have trained you to handle emergency situations. The terrorist training is to help you recognize a terrorist situation in the first place and take appropriate action in addition to what you already know.
I'm pretty sure the Justice department funded the anti-terorist training. I believe the training has also been included the curriculum of Drill School here.
I remember when we got back from class, some guys were putting towels on their heads with horn rimmed glasses, making light of it, but for the most part we took it seriously.
The only way to keep from slipping back is to request the training and then drill on it, regularly. You know you have to scratch your head each tour to come up with new drill ideas, this might be a good place to start. Firefighters are a proud, quiet lot, never wanting to ask for any help. Swallow your pride, ask for the training.

[Fireplug99]

Yes, it is true that some of the terrorism money went to the Department of Justice. They are involved because terrorism is a crime. They also operate a school for WMD training in Alabama. These classes are always full and open to fire and law enforcment personnel. This is an excellant facility with great instructors from all aspects of the field. I have heard they also have another facility out west somewhere. The cost of the training? FREE!!! I highly recommend this training. They offer a technician level course as well as an IC course. This is a week long commitment but well worth it. Your local EPD should be aware of the program. Some money is also available for the local areas to be used for WMD training. Again, the local EPD should be aware of it.

Does the fire service need training in terrorism? Definately! How else can we combat the results if we don't understand what we are facing? The more we know about it beforehand, the better prepared we will be when faced with the aftermath.

[Semper Fire]

OK guys - let me do a little clarification here...

fireman george - I stated that it was our job to respond and mitigate the effects of the terrorist act -- e.g. - Building collapse, Mass Casualty Incidents, Fire, Explosions, etc...

And you said that we do indeed need the anti-terrorism part. You continued on to mention several items. Listed here:

• Secondary device
  Suspicious persons
  Wide field of awareness
  Cautious advancement
  Recognizing a terrorist act

I'd like to expand on a these of you don't mind.

SECONDARY DEVICE - This is extremely important. All first responders should always be considerate of a secondary device. Often the first device (explosive, crash, whatever...) is designed to bring people into an area. When all those first responders (Fire, Police, EMS) arrive - the terrorists set off a second device- to increase the number of casualties.

SUSPICIOUS PERSONS - It is important to consider that as a first responder to a terrorist act - one of the individuals that you are aiding and/or treating may in fact be one of the perpetrators of that act. However - In a real world situation, I feel that this is bogus. How many people do you know that would act rationally after they saw large numbers of people killed??

WIDE FIELD OF AWARENESS - this aids in not getting tunnel vision, and allowing yourself to be drawn in to that secondary device, to allow you to notice suspicious persons. I think it would be better termed 'heightened awareness'.

CAUTIOUS ADVANCEMENT- Again, you want to be able to advace cautiously and not be sucked in by the lights and sirens, and the 'need/urge' to help. If you don't advance cautiously - you may become one of the victims yourself.

RECOGNIZING A TERRORIST ACT - this allows you to identify a terrorist act from a random act of violence, so you can not only notify the appropriate law enforcement authorities - but tailor your response accordingly.


Nothing that you mentioned was 'anti-terrorist' in nature. They were all things that we can easily do, and this training shouldn't be that costly. With all the attention that has been given to terrorism of late- and all the money that is being talked about for "NEW", "BETTER" anti-terrorism training, -- I'd like to know what they plan to do with all this money. And what programs are they looking to develop??

All the things mentioned were geared toward making the first responders safer - and I am for that. And I recommend that people do take 'Terrorism Recognition' training- for all the reasons stated above.

Fireplug99- The reason that I mentioned the Justice Department is because after the two terroist acts - the World Trade Center bombing in '93, and the Murrah Building bombing in '95; large amounts of money were earmarked for anti-terrorism training, and the money was to be administered by the Dept. of Justice.
I do know that terrorism is a crime. And the school that you mentioned is the Center for Domestic Preparedness, housed at Fort McClellan. And the program mentioned out west is a seperate training program located at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.
More information can be found at:Office for Domestic Preparedness - Training and Technical Assistance

I don't dispute that we need training. But we don't necessarily need to understand why terrorists do what they do. We need to be able to handle the situation that the terrorist act causes.

How many fire departments out there can handle a large scale building collapse? How profecient are they at building shoring? Concrete cutting? Heavy Lifting and rigging? Search and Rescue? Mass Casualty triage?

These are things that we DO need to train in. We need to be able to handle the fire's that a terrorist bomb may start - expeditiously - so that evidence might not be consumed in the fire.

I think that we would better be served by earmarking these 'new funds' on training of the nature I described.

I appreciate your comments. Look at how much they made me type

I hope you don't take anything that I have said as an attack. I appreciate the dialogue that the Forums allow.