Knowing what normal looks like

Senior Master Sgt. James Herkel/62nd Security Forces Squadron

Over the years, our enemies have taken many forms. During my career, the “enemy” has taken the form of Soviet Spetsnaz, Balkan snipers, North Korean special operations forces, international terrorists and any number of bad guys or gals. Most recently, the focus has been on the insurgence in Iraq, the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan and state-sponsored terrorists in those areas of operations.

While the task facing these adversaries is in good hands, I have concerns about the well-concealed, rogue sympathizers of our enemies who exist right under our noses.

These enemies have advantages. They know when the attack will occur. Not so long ago, enemies had to conduct surveillance at the target, exposing themselves to observation. Today, most of the information needed to plan an attack is readily available on the Web, including maps, imagery and pictures. But they still need help getting their hands on the last few puzzle pieces to get the full picture required for an attack.

It’s in their efforts to find those pieces that they must expose themselves, and it’s then we must be alert to stop them.

To complete the puzzle, the enemy will ask questions (either in person, by telephone or through e-mail phishing) to learn about our security processes, locations of critical assets, or whereabouts of high-payoff targets. The enemy will conduct surveillance around the base, especially at entry control points and vehicle search areas.

This will almost certainly involve the use of binoculars, cameras or sketching materials. The enemy might conduct tests of security, such as “innocently” probing fencelines, gates or work centers to observe responses or identify vulnerabilities.

So, what are you looking for? Nobody understands what’s normal around our installations and work centers better than each of you. Supervisors at all levels should be able to describe to their subordinates exactly what is meant by “suspicious activity.”

When abnormal, “suspicious” events occur (especially those that are potentially acts of elicitation, surveillance, tests of security, rehearsals, acquiring supplies, or deploying assets), call the base police or security forces.