The Government spends 25 Million Annually to conduct a Terrorism Exercise called TOPOFF and then can't seem to release the results...Lessons Learned...because of the sensitivity or classification of the information. Another fine example of our Tax Dollars at work for us. If the previous TOPOFF Exercises were as successful as the Katrina Fiasco, no wonder the Government is reluctant to release the results. This years TOPOFF Exercise sounds like it may run a little smoother. It appears like Mr. Tom Ridges Private Security Consulting Company has been hired to save the Day! If accurate, Mr. Ridge probably was awarded a Sole Source No Bid Contract to TOPOFF his Companies Coffers. Any Bets?
No bets on the Sole Source contract my friend. We all know how the Beltway Bandits work.
As far as preparedness is concerned, I can speak to the communications fiasco. I have been an active Amateur Radio operator for many years. We Hams are pretty well organized and for us to conduct a traffic net (either voice, morse code, RTTY or data) is relatively trivial. We have been shining stars -- so to speak -- for many, many disasters over the past one hundred years, (that's right, since the days of Spark Radio and the Titantic sinking).
We now see the Department of Homeland Security step into the picture. Suddenly, any Ham operator who wished to volunteer (virtually 100% of us) now must have a Background Investigation, obtain appropriate clearance and permissions, be fingerprinted and badged, etc. Nice Beltway ploy to carve out the volunteers and substitute instead commercial contractors with all the waste and spent treasure that involves. As opposed to the completely volunteer and free Ham Radio community. Hams are not permitted by custom or law to "charge" for their services -- services which in some cases have resulted in their deaths, during Katrina, Hurricane Luis, Mount St Helens, and the NY 9/11 attack.
Of course the American Amateur Radio League (ARRL) which successfully coordinated cross-band permissions between MARS stations and Hams on the Ham authorized frequencies, is now working hard to figure out this latest issue. In our own small community where I live, our pool of volunteers shrank from around 100 people to less than 30 when "the rules" went into effect. Volunteers stayed away mainly because of the bureaucratic hassle but also because of the principle of the thing. I might add that Red Cross is into this new "Authorized Communicator" thing big time too .. they always got our help for free and willingly and now seems that they are coming up with their own "Red Cross Communications System".
Us military folks can imagine when you have a division in the field and none of the radios are even on the same band, much less same channel; no frequency management, no EMCOM, and no Net Control.
Hummmm ... maybe I should get one of those contracts and consult ... won't cost you more than a couple of million ....
The best kind of preparedness is INDIVIDUAL PREPAREDNESS. You and your family get ready and be ready. Same thing I always told my troops. Take care of yourself and your buddy and let the general worry about where your paycheck is today.
Dave N4CVX, ex-DA1BB, ex-VP2EHF ARRL International Humanitarian Award co-recipient 1996; Ham since 1954.
