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CHDS State/Local, Many organizations believe they are prepared for the next terrorist event by wrongly assuming there is a predictable threat that can be managed with the purchase of new equipment. Unless organizations develop a resilient response strategy that can adapt organizational and operational elements to respond to new terrorist incidents, they will find themselves with the same difficulties emergency responders did on 9/11. As terrorist attacks unfold, organizations are pushed beyond their normal capabilities. How quickly organizations adapt to the uncertainty of a new crisis is critical. Organizations that cannot adapt to new threats of large, complex terrorist events will be less likely to respond effectively to future attacks. This paper recommends a resilient response strategy that is flexible enough to adapt to complex incidents. It proposes policy recommendations that address organizational strategy and operational crisis management to deal with the initial critical hours of a terrorist attack. Organizational strategy defines core competencies and what happens when competencies are pushed beyond their capacity. Operational crisis management will examine situational awareness requirements, flexible decision-making and innovation. Command resiliency is achieved by overcoming organizational bias and integrating organizational preparedness and operational adaptability into a synergistic response network., http://archive.org/details/commandresilienc109452070, Deputy Assistant Chief, Fire Department City of New York

CHDS State/Local, The current trend in terrorist tactics is the use of simple, inexpensive and conventional weapons. One such weapon is improvised incendiary devices (IIDs). The homeland security community has underestimated the magnitude of the threat. Policy makers must recognize the potential for terrorist cells to use IIDs to create terror and fear in the public. IIDs have the potential to create devastating fires resulting in mass casualties. In addition to evaluating the risk of an IID attack and determining the state of preparedness of first responders, this thesis includes a proposal for the creation of two new national planning scenarios, urban and wildland conflagrations or firestorms. Recommendations will include incendiary protocols in the weapon of mass destruction matrix as represented by "I" in CBIRNE. This organizational change can be applied to the homeland security strategies, lexicons and documents of Federal, State, and local governments and the private sector to address the IID threat. This thesis is intended to serve as a catalyst for the Department of Homeland Security to set policy that will decrease vulnerabilities and consequences of this lesser-known threat., http://archive.org/details/improvisedincend109452623, Battalion Chief, New York City Fire Department (FDNY)

The current trend in terrorist tactics is the use of simple, inexpensive and conventional weapons. One such weapon is improvised incendiary devices (IIDs). The homeland security community has underestimated the magnitude of the threat. Policy makers must recognize the potential for terrorist cells to use IIDs to create terror and fear in the public. IIDs have the potential to create devastating fires resulting in mass casualties. In addition to evaluating the risk of an IID attack and determining the state of preparedness of first responders, this thesis includes a proposal for the creation of two new national planning scenarios, urban and wildland conflagrations or firestorms. Recommendations will include incendiary protocols in the weapon of mass destruction matrix as represented by "I" in CBIRNE. This organizational change can be applied to the homeland security strategies, lexicons and documents of Federal, State, and local governments and the private sector to address the IID threat. This thesis is intended to serve as a catalyst for the Department of Homeland Security to set policy that will decrease vulnerabilities and consequences of this lesser-known threat.

Many organizations believe they are prepared for the next terrorist event by wrongly assuming there is a predictable threat that can be managed with the purchase of new equipment. Unless organizations develop a resilient response strategy that can adapt organizational and operational elements to respond to new terrorist incidents, they will find themselves with the same difficulties emergency responders did on 9/11. As terrorist attacks unfold, organizations are pushed beyond their normal capabilities. How quickly organizations adapt to the uncertainty of a new crisis is critical. Organizations that cannot adapt to new threats of large, complex terrorist events will be less likely to respond effectively to future attacks. This paper recommends a resilient response strategy that is flexible enough to adapt to complex incidents. It proposes policy recommendations that address organizational strategy and operational crisis management to deal with the initial critical hours of a terrorist attack. Organizational strategy defines core competencies and what happens when competencies are pushed beyond their capacity. Operational crisis management will examine situational awareness requirements, flexible decision-making and innovation. Command resiliency is achieved by overcoming organizational bias and integrating organizational preparedness and operational adaptability into a synergistic response network.