Reference no: EM132280370

Reply to post 1 & 2 with 150 words each

Post 1

There is a direct relationship between the concepts of risk, threats, and consequences as they relate to homeland security. From a strategic perspective, the concept of identifying threats and managing risk weighs heavily on the decision to act thereby resulting in consequences of those decisions that could prove to cause significant harm to the United States (CPG 201, 2018, p.7).

Aside from being one of the National Preparedness System components, Identifying and managing risk is the principal method of understanding the specific hazards and threats communities across the country face. From catastrophic tornadoes in the Oklahoma to devastating wildfires in California, each state is vulnerable and at significant risk of various threats to thier population and infrastructure.

As outlined under Presidential Policy Directive-8 (PPD-8), the National Preparedness Goal defines our nation's ability to recover from catastrophic incidents and equip communities with capabilities to prevent, protect, mitigate, respond to, and recover from threats and hazards that pose significant risk.

The National Preparedness Goal outlines 32 core capabilities organized into five mission areas of: Prevention, Protection, Mitigation, Response and Recovery. Capabilities such as; Planning, Information Sharing, Economic Recovery, and Risk and Disaster Resilience all contribute to protecting our nation's citizens and assets against threats that pose the greatest risk through reducing the physical, emotional and psychological effects following a catastrophic incident (FEMA.gov, 2015, p.1-6).

At the state, local, territorial, and tribal-levels of government, protection of life and property is at the forefront to creating resilient communities. By performing thorough hazard assessment and analyzing risk, emergency managers advise state and local governments on the threats posed to thier communities that include critical infrastructure elements. By implementing structural and non-structural mitigation measures to threats that may be natural, man-made or technological, key decision makers at all levels of government are not only strengthening thier cities and towns, but also hardening our national infrastructure making it less susceptible to compromise.

Post 2

Insightful lesson and forum topic to get us started off in the course. Risk, threat, vulnerability, and consequence tie directly into each other and serve as the basic framework and formula to identify threats or hazards to our country. The basic framework supports the core homeland security missions - These missions include preventing terrorism, securing the borders, enforcing immigration laws, safeguard cyberspace, and strengthen national preparedness and resilience (DHS, 2014). The enduring missions are structured around the National Security Strategy which outlines how to better posture the US for current and future threats.

There is inherent risk with almost everything natural, technological, or man-made (AMU, 2019). Based off lessons learned and history, the majority of risks and threats can be mitigated but as mentioned in the lesson, preparing for human-caused incidents can be extremely difficult. Consequences can have second and third order impacts based off the event or scenario which is handled differently depending on the type of hazard and location.

For homeland security to be optimized for peak support the US government has to establish and continue a solid relationship between the private sector and local levels. Either via DHS mission centers or integrated local law enforcement intelligence, the threat information has to flow both up and down the chain. Furthermore, a collaborative effort designed to prevent, protect, and defeat threats has to be accomplished at all levels or a consistent basis (DHS, 2011).

For instance natural disasters are a constant risk each and every year however; the US is still greatly impacted year to year. Unfortunately, some states are not as prepared as they should be and ready for natural disasters. For me, this ultimately circles around to homeland security not having the same playing field for all local levels.

As we know right now the primary focus is on southern border security which is extremely important but there have been a plethora of fires on the west coast and flooding throughout the US along with a brutal winter. FEMA and emergency response personnel are stretched thin with a strain on state resources. Small piece of the HLS pie but packs a big punch, thankfully there are always a lot of volunteers and support from the National Guard.