Homeland Defense and Homeland Security

The United States of America Security Systems

The United States of America (USA) has unquestionably one of the best security systems in the entire globe. The government has created concise plans to guarantee a significant reduction in risks and threats as a result of its experience with security situations. The division of security duties among various departments resulted from this. At the same time, there are defined boundaries for how the different departments should work together to achieve the common objectives. Although they may sound like comparable organizations, homeland security and homeland defense are not the same. Although the two institutions are tasked with the same task—ensuring the safety of Americans—they vary and occasionally work together to achieve the security objectives.

Part 1

The homeland security is a department in America similar to national security in other countries. It came into existence after the 9/11 attack. The missions of the motherland security include antiterrorism wars, border security, prevention and management of disasters, cyber security, and customs and immigration (Bullock, Haddow & Coppola, 2012). The objective of the homeland security is to protect the American civilians within the country, at the borders, and outside the borders. The goal of the body is to prepare, prevent, and respond to interior emergencies especially terrorism. The homeland security has various sub-bodies within it that were initially separate.

The homeland security forms the second largest ministerial department in the United States of America (U.S.A). The institution has worked with various private and public companies and already spent $57 billion in the trades. Over 69248 businesses have benefited from the contracts of the homeland security division. The officials expended over $3.4 billion on guard, $2.8 billion on telecommunication and computer equipment services, $2.6 billion on radio navigation instruments, and $2 billion on trailers such as those used to help victims of Hurricane Katrina (Homeland Security, 2017). The expenditure of guard services is necessary to ensure deterrence of criminal activities that may affect American citizens within and outside the American borders. The spending on telecommunication and computers is essential to facilitate the addressing of cyber security issues that also threaten national security. The budget on navigation systems assists the body to in coordinating its movements into and across the rescue and insecure areas to advance its prevention and protection missions. The expenditure on rescue equipment helps in ensuring preparedness to tackle any condition that may affect Americans.

The homeland security is a big department comprising of many agencies tasked to address particular missions. The Federal Emergency Agency (FEMA) is one of the sub-bodies under the motherland security. This company has benefitted from over $14.6 billion since the establishment of the domestic security. The US Coast Guard is another agency that has consumed $13.6 billion of the homeland security budget. The US Customs Service, Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Transportation Security Administration have spent $8.4 billion, $5.3 billion, and $8.04 billion respectively.

The homeland defense on the other hand concerns with the implementation of military works. The home defense is about the protection of the local population, territory, sovereignty of USA, and vital infrastructure against threats and aggressions. The work of homeland defense is under the Defense Department. The home defense performs some responsibilities. One of the responsibilities is to deter and to defeat direct offensives planned against the United States of America. It only defeats if direct by the President, who is the chief commander. The unit also assists the officials of the justice department and law enforcement agents on intelligence, training, equipment, and expertise. In extreme cases especially of civil unrest, the military deploys to support the homeland security officials. According to D’Agostino (2010), the responsibilities of the motherland defense extend to cover the assistance of the Coast Guards to execute the maritime duties. Additionally, the unit has the terrestrial force capable of handling and responding to defense issues of security personnel and sensitive infrastructure. Furthermore, the body has the air faction that surveys and defends the airspace at all altitudes. Moreover, the homeland defense supports civilian security officers and counterterrorism officers as per the American laws.

The home security sectors require some resources to accomplish its missions and responsibilities. One of the necessary resources is airplanes and flying machines that help in boosting air surveillance and defense of the critical infrastructure and US population. The institution also uses the unmanned air combat vehicles to enhance the airborne safety. The body also uses detection devices to identify and neutralize potential risks to safety. The homeland defense is also developing cruise and air missile defense that can protect particular areas. The homeland defense also requires motor vehicles and terrestrial mobile machines to foster its security plans on the ground. Since it involves in the marine security, it also requires boats and war ships.

Even though different, the homeland security and homeland defense share particular efforts and responsibilities. For instance, both the bodies have the task of guarding the national infrastructure against threats. The two agencies also share the responsibility of conducting intelligence on waters, air, and land. Just as the homeland security protects the safety of Americans outside the borders, so does the homeland defense works outside the borders to identify and defeat threats against American nationals. The elements of preparedness and prevention are common responsibilities of the two factions of security. The two security organizations share efforts by cooperating on intelligence and assisting each other on issues of expertise, training, and competence. They also provide backups to each other when necessary.

Part 2

The United States of America has about sixteen categories of essential infrastructures under the protection of either the homeland security or the homeland defense. One of the critical facilities is the chemical manufacturing facilities and under the guard o the homeland security. However, the homeland defense helps the homeland security in tackling chemical threat planned in foreign lands. Dams and power systems are among the basic facilities protected by the motherland security (Guiora, 2012). Other services that include the commercial sector, information systems, communication sector, government offices, and transportation lines are under the watchdog of the homeland security. The homeland defense has an exclusive responsibility to guard the defense industry. Even though it seems that the homeland security enjoys greater accountability, the homeland defense plays a crucial role in providing backups when necessary. As such, the homeland defense is always ready to respond to any form of situation.

The resources for the protection of the critical infrastructures are the bodies or programs established to handle, mitigate, and control hazards. One of the resources is the Office of Infrastructure Protection (IP) that coordinates and leads national policies and programs on the security of the crucial infrastructure. It partners with states, tribal, federal, territorial, and local governments as well as private institutions (Homeland Security, 2017). IP offers training and tools to the specific partners to manage risks on their networks, assets, and system. It works across all the sectors and covers all categories of critical infrastructure. Another resource is the “active shooter preparedness” that trains employees in various areas of techniques to mitigate and react to active shooter situations. Another resource is the “Protective security advisors” trained on reducing vulnerabilities to security risks in critical establishments. The “suspicious activity reporting tool” is another resource that helps un-uniformed security officers to report suspicious security activities in a formal way.

The security bodies are struggling to maintain the safety of the critical bodies but face numerous challenges. For instance, the Sequential Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) software used to run various critical facilities are at higher risk of cyber attack (Robles et. al, n.d). The American security systems are still ignorant of preventing or mitigating damages caused by natural calamities like earthquakes and tsunamis. There are also the risks of riots, bombing, product tampering, and technological threats and failures.

Dealing with the identified vulnerabilities demands that the American government develops systems here the cyber structure works seamlessly with the physical establishment to ease the rate of hazard detection. Concerning the SCADA system, the government should develop better protection mechanisms or replace it with new and unique software. It is crucial to note that SCADA is a universal software used by even the most dangerous people.

References

Bullock, J. A., Haddow, G. D., & Coppola, D. P. (2012). Introduction to homeland security: Principles of all-hazards risk management. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.

D’Agostino, D. M. (2010).Homeland Defense: DoD Can Enhance Efforts to Identify Capabilities to Support Civil Authorities During Disasters. Place of publication not identified DIANE Publishing.

Guiora, A. M.(2012). Homeland Security: What Is It and Where Are We Going? Broken Sound Parkway, Northwest; NW: Taylor and Francis Group.

Homeland Security. (2017). Critical Infrastructure Resources. Retrieved March 8, 2017 from https://www.dhs.gov/critical-infrastructure-resourcess

Nemeth, C. (2013).Homeland Security: An Introduction to Principles and Practice, Second Edition. Broken Sound Parkway, Northwest; NW: Taylor and Francis Group.

Robles, R. J., Choi, M., Cho, E., Kim, S., Park, G. & Lee, J. (n.d).Common Threats and Vulnerabilities of Critical Infrastructures. Retrieved March 8, 2017 from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/7098/a29a404f8561c7f3c66801b6e1f36f88b7b7.pdf

Westin, S. S. (2003). Strategies for homeland defense: A compilation by the committee on foreign. Place of publication not identified: Diane Pub Co.