DHS Homeland Security Advisory System and DoD FPCON Research Paper

DHS Homeland Security Advisory System and DoD FPCON - Research Paper Example In order to protect military and civilian targets, the Department of Defense (DoD) devised two separate terrorist response systems. FPCON is devised to protect military personnel and facilities while the Homeland Security Advisory System is implemented by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Alert levels in these systems could last for weeks or months depending on the perceived situation by authorities. Aside from the laws implemented to deter, detect, and punish terrorists after 9/11, the federal government has devised warning systems to guide civilians and military personnel on how to respond to terrorist threats. HSAS was implemented on March 11, 2002, to make the dissemination of threats faster and more efficient. To avoid confusion with its military counterpart, the existing THREATCON was renamed to FPCON by the military (U.S. Defense Attachà ©, 2009). The advisory system is primarily designed to inform government agencies and department (federal, state, and local) public and private sectors, and citizens in general of an imminent or perceived terrorist threat in the country. Established on March 11, 2002, the Advisory System is organized into five color codes, each code of which corresponds to descriptions of a terrorist threat level. The lowest risk of terrorist threat is coded green. This warning signals minimum threat but it calls for the refinement of preplanned preventive measures to deter an attack. It further calls for the assessment of vulnerabilities and to take measures that these vulnerabilities are safeguarded and secured against terrorists. The next threat level is coded blue, with â€Å"guarded† as its corresponding descriptor. In code blue, there is a general risk of terrorist attacks and emergency response communications and systems are assessed.