[90693] in Cypherpunks
Re: A Challenge to the Violent and Depraved
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (John Young)
Sat Nov 22 11:48:12 1997
Date: Sat, 22 Nov 1997 11:21:34 -0500
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
From: John Young <jya@pipeline.com>
Reply-To: John Young <jya@pipeline.com>
To buttress suggestions for simulating the OKC bombing, here's an SAIC=20
press release of August 1997 on a training program for disaster handling:
SAIC AND TEEX TO PROVIDE ANTI-TERRORISM TRAINING TO=20
FIRST RESPONDERS=20
(MCLEAN, VA) Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) has=20
signed an agreement with the Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX)=20
to prepare civilian emergency responders for possible terrorist events.=20
Under the agreement, SAIC and its teaming partners will provide training=20
to firefighters and other first response personnel in the latest=20
technologies for addressing chemical and biological terrorism.=20
As the leader of the team, TEEX will hold training classes at Texas A&M=20
University's Emergency Response Training Field at College Station, Texas,=20
where firefighters and rescue workers will train in virtual reality=20
simulators on the effects of chemical and biological weapons. TEEX, which=20
is a member of the Texas A&M University System, annually provides training=
=20
to 129,000 individuals and last year provided fire, rescue and hazardous=20
materials training nationally and internationally to more than 28,000
responders.=20
"The United States has been fortunate in that it has not had a successful=20
terrorist attack perpetrated against it using biological or chemical=
agents,"=20
said G. Kemble Bennett, TEEX's CEO who oversees the 120-acre Brayton Fire=20
Training Field. "However, experts agree that it is only a matter of time."=
=20
"As a leader in chemical and biological warfare agent accident, response and=
=20
assistance training for military and civilian emergency response agencies,=
=20
SAIC can offer expert guidance to responders," said William L. Chadsey,=20
senior vice president at SAIC. "Our company has provided emergency planning=
=20
and consultative services to personnel and public service organizations=20
worldwide."=20
In September, U.S. Representative Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) is expected to=20
introduce a bill in Congress to designate the training field at Texas=20
A&M and its facilities as The National Training Center for Urban=20
Search and Rescue. The new center is expected to feature building=20
collapse simulators and a facility dubbed "Disaster City" to prepare=20
responders to handle earthquakes and bombings in addition to chemical=20
and biological agents. If approved, Rep. Weldon=B9s bill also is likely=20
to facilitate the release of information from Bechtel Nevada at the=20
Nevada Test Site about the handling of nuclear materials.=20
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Fire Chief Gary Marrs of Oklahoma=20
City, Okla., said, "The first responders in our communities, and=20
specifically our firefighters, are tasked to respond and make a=20
difference when disasters occur. Until the training and equipment,
utilizing the latest in technology, get down to the street level, we=20
put our responders at an extreme disadvantage and endanger their lives.=20
I am encouraged to see these types of cooperative efforts make this=20
training and technology available to the men and women of the fire=20
service who protect our cities daily."=20
Marrs, who managed the fire and rescue mission at the bombing of the=20
Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, chairs the Urban Search=20
and Rescue Committee for the International Association of Fire Chiefs=20
located in Fairfax, Va.=20
http://www.saic.com/publications/news/aug97/news08-06-97.html
