Secret team to combat terror

[E40FDNYL35]

Monday, March 22nd, 2004
The Fire Department has set up its first-ever terror school, where New York's Bravest are studying how to respond to almost unimaginable attacks, the Daily News has learned.
The 33 students - top fire chiefs, captains, marshals and medics - have been working secretly at the Fire Academy on Randalls Island, attending frighteningly frank lectures by leading experts in nuclear, radiological and biochemical warfare.
The goal is to combat terrorism by learning to think like terrorists - devising doomsday scenarios in a bid to ultimately generate strategies that could save thousands of lives.
"We're actually playing the role of the bad guy because that's the only way we can understand our vulnerabilities and the magnitude of the damage a certain attack may cause," said Joseph Pfeifer, deputy assistant fire chief of operations.
"Unless we get into the mind of the enemy, unless we start thinking like the enemy, it's very hard to ready ourselves," Pfeifer said. "We're learning about evil, and more than ever, we're realizing that knowledge is power."
The course, developed by instructors at West Point's Combating Terrorism Center, began Jan. 13 and has touched on everything from the potency of nuclear weapons to the possibilities of suicide attacks and dirty-bomb attacks in the city.
"It is all but inevitable that some type of dirty bomb will explode somewhere within the next coming years," Dr. Charles Ferguson, one of the nation's leading experts in nuclear and radiological terrorism, told the class recently.

It was typically blunt talk.

The lectures are peppered with examples disturbing enough to keep the students awake at night. But they keep poker faces and take it all in, jotting notes on pads and tapping on laptop computers.
"It's not easy to sit through these classes sometimes," said Battalion Chief Richard Schlueck, a hazardous materials expert. "A lot of us go home and have nightmares."
The students have been divided into eight groups, each of which is "planning" a specific terror strike. Among the scenarios are a chemical attack in the subway, a nuclear explosion and a suicide bombing on a crowded city corner.
But first, the groups study different terrorist organizations to determine how each operates and its weapon of choice.
Then, each group compiles a profile of the organization its members think is most likely to carry out a certain type of attack.
The group studying a chemical attack in the subway has come up with the following scenario: A terror group releases a certain chemical in a crowded rush-hour subway train. Scores of commuters are overcome and firefighters need to move fast to avoid mass casualties.
"If we're able to plan better ... we will be lessening the probability that an attack will be totally successful," said Pfeifer, whose group is working on the subway attack scenario.
The Bravest are driven by the memories of the 343 FDNY members lost on Sept. 11, 2001. The March 11 commuter train blasts in Madrid have only turned up the intensity and urgency of their work.
"What we're seeing is that terrorism is global, with transnational players, and no place in the world is immune to an attack," said Assistant Chief of Special Operations Command Michael Weinlein, who is part of a group studying a nuclear attack in the city.
Weinlein's group is striving to answer vital questions: How close can firefighters get to the blast point after detonation? Could a nuclear attack trigger a firestorm over the city?
"Of course, everybody fears the ultimate weapon, a nuclear device in New York," said Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta.
"New York has some natural barriers to the spread of such catastrophe, like the water around lower Manhattan and the skyscrapers," he said. "But how do you create other ways to contain a firestorm? How do you fight it?"
The groups will present their final projects to the faculty before graduation day, set for April 27. The projects and their recommendations will be used to overhaul response procedures and training.
That task will be undertaken at the Center for Terrorism and Disaster Preparedness, a cutting-edge counterterrorism center being created by the FDNY at Fort Totten in Queens. The center will be funded by a Homeland Security grant.
The Fire Department got 160 applications for the West Point terrorism training program and plans to run its terror school annually.
"This is a department that knows how to handle the traditional emergencies very well," Scoppetta said. "But times have changed, as we learned on 9/11."

[cellblock]

The goal is to combat terrorism by learning to think like terrorists

Damn. I've been doing that for years. Why is this just now catching on? I love how they are making it 'secret' like profiling terrorists is something that only they know how to do. I bet that nearly anything taught there can be found on the internet or technical reference guides which are available to the public.

[E40FDNYL35]

Yah that's right cellblock. This coarse came right from the news and Internet. 2 planes 2 buildings and stuff like that.But at least where not sitting on are *** waiting for some other thing to happen.

[DeputyChiefGonzo]

Originally posted by cellblock
Damn. I've been doing that for years. Why is this just now catching on? I love how they are making it 'secret' like profiling terrorists is something that only they know how to do. I bet that nearly anything taught there can be found on the internet or technical reference guides which are available to the public.

"In order to catch a terrorist gopher...you have to think like a terrorist gopher"...Carl Spackler, Groundskeeper, Bushwood Country Club, from the movie Caddyshack

[zippo99]

Don't get me wrong here, training and special courses in responding to terrorist attacks are good, and should be encouraged.
But, once you have to respond, the harm is done, and than it all comes down to respond ASAP to save as much lives we can, and to control the damage which is already done.
The question is, will we ever be capable to prevent attacks like they took place on 9/11 or recently the one in Spain on 3/11.
I think not, there always will be groups with extreme ideologies which will use violence against the community.
This doesn't mean we have to sit and wait for the next thing to happen.
All democratic countries should work together, and not against each other like it is done now, to keep an eye on groups and individuals which are a danger to our safety, freedom and democracy.
Meanwhile, all we can do is training, training and training, and never forget what took place on those days.