July 1, 2013 in Department of Defense
A series of “limited release” directives from the Department of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff including instructions, directives and manuals detailing DoD policy on a variety of topics from counterintelligence to the use of lasers in space.
Tags: Department of Defense
October 14, 2013 in U.S. Army
Warfare in the 21st Century necessitates a complete shift in the way we think and the way we fight. More than ever, the use of nonlethal effects is having a profound impact on conflicts. Much of today’s battlefield is in the minds of the public, shaped by the spoken word, cyberspace, media, and other means of strategic communications, as well as by our physical actions. Consequently, melding information with physical operations may very well be decisive in counterinsurgency and other stability operations. By melding information operations with physical operations, the division commander, who is executing a war against an insurgency and simultaneously attempting to pacify a populace, can gain the respect, compliance, and support of the people who may tip the balance in his favor. The enemy has become adept at all means of communications, in particular information operations, and uses his actions to reinforce his message. As a result, he influences not only the indigenous population but also the world as a whole.
Tags: Afghanistan, Center for Army Lessons Learned, Counterinsurgency, For Official Use Only, Information Operations, Iraq, U.S. Army
October 13, 2013 in New York
Data contained within social network sites may assist law enforcement in gathering timely information in furtherance of crime prevention, preservation of public order, and the investigation of criminal activity, including suspected terrorist activity. These guidelines are promulgated, in part, to instill the proper balance between the investigative potential of social network sites and privacy expectations.
Tags: New York, NYPD, Social Media, Social Networking
October 13, 2013 in Department of Justice
The use of social media is a relatively new phenomenon in policing. Development of formal policy on social media is generally lagging behind practice. A variety of legal, civil rights, and privacy-related issues regarding social media have been raised, but these issues have not yet been settled by legislatures or resolved in the courts. Social Media and Tactical Considerations for Law Enforcement summarizes discussions at a national conference of police executives on these issues, and analyzes the experiences of selected law enforcement agencies in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom that have shown leadership in advancing the use of social media for various purposes. Police agencies can use social media to facilitate two-way communications with the public to disseminate information, manage political demonstrations and other major events, obtain intelligence about “flash mobs” or rioting, and investigate crimes.
Tags: Department of Justice, NYPD, Social Media
October 12, 2013 in California, Corporate
Contract documents between the City of Oakland and Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) for construction of the Oakland Domain Awareness Center.
Tags: Fusion Centers, Oakland, Science Applications International Corporation
October 9, 2013 in Vatican
The Cardinals’ Commission welcomes the publication of the first Annual Report of the Istituto per le Opere di Religione (IOR). Since the first Vatican City State law on anti-money laundering (AML) came into force on 1 April 2011, the IOR has embarked on a course of reform, of which transparency is a key element. The reform process led to the appointment of the Pontifical Commission by the Holy Father on 24 June 2013, and will result in giving the IOR a new direction, as was done in 1942 and in 1990. It is important to remember that the IOR’s reason for existing is to serve the Catholic Church, in particular its works of charity and its missionary activities, by safeguarding assets and providing payment services.
Tags: Vatican, Vatican Bank
October 9, 2013 in U.S. Army
The Army is currently engaged in two fights in southwest Asia. However, future conflicts could possibly be brewing throughout all of south and southeast Asia. The largest Islamic country in the world is not in the Middle East but is in Asia: Indonesia with approximately 197 million Muslims. And throughout southern Asia, insurgency and radicalization is on the rise. At a recent conference in Bangladesh, Major General (Retired) A.N.M. Muniruzzaman of the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies announced south Asia is now the “epicenter for global terrorism.” Not one of the attendees from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, the United States, Canada, Germany, Norway, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore disagreed with him.
Tags: Center for Army Lessons Learned, For Official Use Only, Philippines, Sri Lanka, thailand, Timor Leste, U.S. Army
October 8, 2013 in U.S. Army
The U.S. Army, Pacific Command Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and High Yield Explosives Division and the 71st Chemical Company recently redeployed from Japan in support of Operation Tomodachi. Their efforts provide the center of gravity for this collection effort. This document will strive to highlight and capture some best practices and issues requiring further study by the U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear School and other units deploying to similar operations.
Tags: Center for Army Lessons Learned, For Official Use Only, Fukushima, U.S. Army
October 7, 2013 in Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Over the past year, the NSI PMO has continued its implementation efforts and outreach to NSI stakeholders to help ensure that law enforcement and homeland security partners are afforded another tool to help identify and prevent terrorism and other related criminal activity. The ongoing collaboration among DOJ, DHS, the FBI, SLTT partners, and the National Network of Fusion Centers has strengthened, allowing the NSI to expand its nationwide information sharing capability. As of March 2013, 73 fusion centers have met the requirements outlined by the NSI PMO to be fully NSI-Operational—an increase of 5 centers from the same time last year—and all 78 fusion centers now maintain the capability to contribute and share suspicious activity reports through the Shared Space or eGuardian. This expansion of the NSI has allowed the Federated Search Tool to be accessed by more trained users—increasing the number of searches to more than 76,400—and more than 25,900 Information Sharing Environment (ISE)-SARs had been submitted and shared by the end of March 2013. Further, with the support of the National Network of Fusion Centers, 46 states and the District of Columbia are participating in statewide implementation of the NSI; implementation efforts are currently under way in Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands to ensure a strengthened nationwide capacity for sharing ISE-SAR information.
Tags: Department of Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Fusion Centers, Information Sharing Environment, Suspicious Activity Reporting
October 7, 2013 in Federal Bureau of Investigation
A series of videos derived from presentations posted on Prezi.com by FBI Criminal Justice Information Services Communications Officer Gene Weaver concerning the FBI’s Next Generation Identification program.
Tags: Biometrics, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Privacy
October 6, 2013 in Department of Energy
Mobile biometric devices (MBDs) capable of both enrolling individuals in databases and performing identification checks of subjects in the field are seen as an important capability for military, law enforcement, and homeland security operations. The technology is advancing rapidly. The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate through an Interagency Agreement with Sandia sponsored a series of pilot projects to obtain information for the first responder law enforcement community on further identification of requirements for mobile biometric device technology. Working with 62 different jurisdictions, including components of the Department of Homeland Security, Sandia delivered a series of reports on user operation of state-of-the-art mobile biometric devices. These reports included feedback information on MBD usage in both operational and exercise scenarios. The findings and conclusions of the project address both the limitations and possibilities of MBD technology to improve operations. Evidence of these possibilities can be found in the adoption of this technology by many agencies today and the cooperation of several law enforcement agencies in both participating in the pilot efforts and sharing of information about their own experiences in efforts undertaken separately.
Tags: Biometrics, Department of Energy, Distribution Restricted, Privacy, Sandia National Laboratories
October 5, 2013 in Afghanistan, North Atlantic Treaty Organization
This guide is designed to provide NATO partners and troop contributing nations (TCNs) participating as part of the International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) a common understanding of Security Force Assistance (SFA) activities. It provides a summary of the ISAF SFA concept as well as guidance and information concerning SFA activities, countering the insider threat, mission critical tasks, and training requirements in support of Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF).
Tags: Afghanistan, Insider Threat, International Security Assistance Force, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Security Force
October 3, 2013 in Department of Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation
This Joint Intelligence Bulletin (JIB) provides information on the 21 September 2013 attack in Nairobi, Kenya likely conducted by al-Shabaab—an al-Qai‘da linked militant group based in Somalia. This JIB examines the ongoing incident and provides background on the threat from al-Shabaab. This JIB also highlights protective measures that can assist in mitigating threats in the United States using similar tactics and is provided to support the activities of FBI and DHS and to assist federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial government counterterrorism and law enforcement officials, as well as first responders and private sector security officials to deter, prevent, preempt, or respond to terrorist attacks in the United States or overseas targeting US interests.
Tags: Al-Shabaab, Department of Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation, For Official Use Only, Improvised Explosive Devices, Kenya, Small Arms, Terrorism
October 3, 2013 in Virginia
Court documents related to the U.S. government’s efforts to force Lavabit LLC, an encrypted email provider used by Edward Snowden, to hand over encryption keys to decode all secure traffic flowing through the site. The documents were originally obtained and released by Kevin Poulsen of Wired.com after being unsealed by a judge on October 2, 2013.
Tags: Edward Snowden, Privacy, virginia
October 3, 2013 in Joint Chiefs of Staff
This manual provides the information technology (IT) system-level information required to support readiness data entry into GSORTS. The intended audience is the Services, combatant commands, and CSAs to ensure organization unique IT systems (if any) and readiness assessment data meet requirements.
Tags: Department of Defense, Distribution Restricted, Joint Chiefs of Staff
October 3, 2013 in Maryland, New York
Court documents including a criminal complaint, indictment, asset forfeiture and protective orders related to the shut down and seizure of the website the Silk Road.
Tags: Silk Road, Tor
October 1, 2013 in Libya, United Nations
From late 2011, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has recorded 27 cases of deaths in custody where there is significant information to suggest that torture was the cause, and is aware of allegations about additional cases which it has not been able to fully investigate. Eleven of the 27 cases, detailed in this report, took place in 2013, all in detention centres under the nominal authority of the Government but effectively under the authority of armed brigades.
Tags: Libya, United Nations
September 30, 2013 in Afghanistan, U.S. Army
The value of exploded ordnance scrap metal and UXO that can be collected from CF artillery ranges is a lucrative risk the Afghan population is willing to take. Reports indicate that Afghan adults send their children to the properly marked CF artillery ranges, after live fire and calibration training events, in order to collect exploded ordnance scrap metal to sell.
Tags: Center for Army Lessons Learned, For Official Use Only, U.S. Army, Unexploded Ordnance
September 30, 2013 in Department of Defense
Several memos and contingency plans from September 2013 outlining the Department of Defense’s preparation for a possible government shutdown.
Tags: Department of Defense, Government Shutdown
September 27, 2013 in Intelligence Fusion Centers, Massachusetts
The Commonwealth Critical Infrastructure Program (CCIP) analyzed school shooting incidents from 1992-2012 to identify patterns in attacker backgrounds or tactics which could assist officials. Observations are presented in summary format to allow officials to draw their own conclusions. Mitigation steps included in this document are presented to facilitate discussion and are not comprehensive or prescriptive.
Tags: Active Shooter, For Official Use Only, Fusion Centers, massachusetts, School shooter
September 26, 2013 in U.S. Joint Forces Command
This handbook provides pre-doctrinal guidance on the planning, execution, and assessment of joint integrated persistent surveillance (JIPS) by a joint task force (JTF) and its components. Significant prior work has been done in support of persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and much of the information in this handbook was gleaned from that data. However, the scope of this handbook pertains to the subset of persistent surveillance: the processes which contribute to creating a persistent surveillance strategy and those required for executing persistent surveillance missions. The document serves as a bridge between current best practices in the field and incorporation of value-added ideas in joint doctrine.
Tags: Drones
September 25, 2013 in National Security Council
A report produced by the National Security Council Study Group headed by Paul Nitze in 1950. NSC-68 is considered to be one of the most significant documents in the history of the U.S. national security apparatus, defining goals, values, and functions of U.S. national security policy throughout the Cold War and beyond. Historian Michael J. Hogan, scholar of U.S. foreign policy and former fellow at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library, has described the document as the “bible of American national security policy.”
Tags: National Security, National Security Council
September 24, 2013 in Iran, United Nations
Our world today is replete with fear and hope; fear of war and hostile regional and global relations; fear of deadly confrontation of religious, ethnic and national identities; fear of institutionalization of violence and extremism; fear of poverty and destructive discrimination; fear of decay and destruction of life-sustaining resources; fear of disregard for human dignity and rights; and fear of neglect of morality. Alongside these fears, however, there are new hopes; the hope of universal acceptance by the people and the elite all across the globe of “yes to peace and no to war”; and the hope of preference of dialogue over conflict, and moderation over extremism.
Tags: Iran, United Nations
September 24, 2013 in U.S. Special Operations Command
A U.S. Army Special Operations Command memo informing units to stop using anti-malarial drug mefloquine due to the recent “black box warning” issued by the FDA linking the drug to dangerous side effects.
Tags: For Official Use Only, U.S. Army, U.S. Special Operations Command
September 23, 2013 in U.S. Army
This handbook is designed to specifically provide trainers, leaders and soldiers a “hip pocket” reference to identify all the known logos used by insurgents, terrorists, paramilitary and other militant groups worldwide.
Tags: Distribution Restricted, Terrorism, U.S. Army