By Stephen R. Galati, Contributing Writer
December 2011

When one thinks of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grant programs and the risk of terrorist attacks, the first thought may be that government and public agencies are the primary targets. Although these agencies may hold higher visibility and threat risks, they are certainly not the only viable targets for acts of terrorism. Since the horrific attacks against the United States on September 11th, many nonprofit organizations, such as ones operating religious facilities and places of symbolic value, have become involved with infrastructure-hardening and emergency preparedness activities. The events of the last decade have served as a paradigm change in our collective understanding of national security.

In recognition of the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has recently released its progress report highlighting the achievements that the Department and its many partners have made in carrying out the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations. Created in late 2002, this Commission was chartered to prepare a complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 attacks and to provide recommendations intended to strengthen our nation’s well-being and defense from future attacks. Additional information on this August 2004 report is available at www.9-11commission.gov/report/index.htm.

Goodbye, Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS). Hello, National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS). The HSAS, first implemented in response to the September 11th attacks, was designed to “inform all levels of government and local authority, as well as the public, to the current risk of terrorist acts.” As many of us know, the previous system was built on a five-level, color-coded threat condition indicator that attempted to assign a color according to the current threat level. Latent with unrealized benefits, this colorful experiment has officially ended as of April 2011. In its place we find DHS writing a new chapter of homeland security preparedness.