Critical Infrastructure: Protection, Resilience, or Both?

Lessons Learned for Critical Infrastructure

Most discussions about protection of the U.S. “critical infrastructure” focus on power plants, government buildings, nuclear facilities, and other high-value “things.” It says here that people, U.S. citizens, both government workers and the general public – human assets, in other words – also need protection and, in fact, should be at the top of the list.

Local Security: The Forgotten Factor in Relief Operations

Two Missouri Air National Guard C-130 Hercules transport aircraft, with 47 crew members, were diverted to Chile to aid that earthquake-ravaged nation. The C-130 aircraft can fly passengers, and airlift cargo, long distances – in all weather conditions, both day and night, from low to high altitudes – and land in many areas inaccessible to other aircraft.

No Easy Choices When Facing a Nuclear-Armed Gorilla

As always, the principal topic discussed at the 2010 Herzliya conference was Israeli’s national security. But the most important building block – stumbling block might be a more accurate term – in maintaining that security at a high level was mentioned only in whispers, because no one dared to speak its name: Iran’s continuing drive to develop a nuclear-weapons capability.

Port Recovery in Haiti: The Initial Stages

The Resolve Marine Group played a key role in helping to clear the shattered harbor area in Port au Prince and make it possible to bring ashore thousands of tons of food, fuel, medicines and medical supplies, and the numerous other life-saving essentials so desperately needed by the Haitian people.

The Principles of Infrastructure Resilience

“Resilience” used to be an after-thought in preparedness planning. Today it is not only a fundamental principle, an ultimate goal, and an essential guideline, but also the concrete foundation (literally as well as figuratively) of long-range policies, funding decisions, and effective response and recovery operations.

The New Preparedness Challenge: Transitioning Resilience from Theory to Reality

Prevention, Response, and Recovery used to be the principal objectives of the U.S. homeland-security strategy. That blessed trinity has now expanded to a better balanced quartet, thanks in large part to various studies and official reports that have focused public and political attention on the need for Resilience as well.

Has Resilience Become the New Protection

Two CNA officials discuss the once frequently ignored relevance of Resilience – yes, with a capital “R” – as a major component of the U.S. “Grand Strategy” for homeland-security and how it evolved from a passing thought to a sudden realization and eventually to a nationally known buzzword.

GPS-Equipped Vehicles and the EMS Infrastructure

The political/budgetary decision to purchase and install GPS devices on EMS ambulances (and sometimes other vehicles) should never be based on cost alone. For three reasons: (1) They save lives. (2) They facilitate closer control and better management of the overall EMS fleet. (3) Thanks to the first two reasons, they improve productivity and reduce agency costs in the long run.

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