In this episode of Homeland, I had the opportunity to speak with Noel Lipana where we talked about moral injury, coffee, Jiu-Jitsu, coffee, healing through art, and of course, more about coffee. This episode is one I recorded while at APEX at the Naval Postgraduate School. So, for those that missed the conference, you’re in for a treat, and those that heard Noel speak, we found a way to hit areas a presentation just can’t take you. When my editor was listening to this podcast, he asked how long Noel and I have known each other. I told him we’d met the day prior. I bring this up because when conversations flow the way this one did, I find the content resonates on a deeper level, and the impact is that much more meaningful. If you’d like to get in touch with Noel, you can find him on FB at Quiet Terrain and on Twitter @TroopInContact.

As I mentioned in our last episode; I’ll be releasing several conversations originally recorded during the APEX 2020 conference; this is one of those. In this episode, I’m joined by Madeline Kristoff from Citizenship and Immigration Services and Kevin Peters from DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis. In today’s conversation, I wanted to bring us past the political rhetoric and tribal narratives surrounding immigration and border security and take an honest look at the issues we face. We’ll discuss securing our borders, addressing humanitarian concerns, and a path forward to move from outdated immigration policies and how to bring them in line with the realities of a changing world.

Before we jump into today’s episode, I want to thank each of you for hanging with us during the very busy months of 2020. I guess this show has been directly impacted by my work responsibilities addressing COVID-19, protests, civil unrest, wildfires, and most recently the election.Dedicating time to edit and release episodes has been challenging to say the least. However, I’ve blocked time into my schedule to get this show up and moving forward.Fortunately, I’ve got some episodes recorded from February’s APEX conference in Monterey and I think you’ll enjoy what we have lined up. Today’s episode is with John Comiskey and Mike Larranaga where we’ll be talking about climate change and the homeland security challenges that arise from this complex issue. So with that, let’s jump right into our discussion on climate security.

In this episode I have the opportunity to talk with not just one or two of our fellow alum, rather I have the pleasure of speaking with four: Steven Polunsky, Will Pilkington, Merideth Bastiani, and Angi English. This team was part of the first cohort of Advanced Thinking in Homeland Security, also known as HSx. They came together to address the delay in public health alerts of communicable disease outbreaks. They specifically focused on accessing real-time health data and crafted five recommendations to enhance disease detection within the United States. The best way to understand the breadth of this project is to get right to it and start my conversation with the team of One Health Alert System.

Many of our episodes have featured those leaders of today and visionaries of tomorrow, but in this episode, we’re having a conversation with one of yesterday’s pioneers, Mr. Andy Mitchell. But a bit of a background first. What prompted funding towards training and educating the countries' emergency responders and government leaders? Shortly after the end of the Cold War we entered into the country’s next era of conflict – one of terrorism. This era was heralded in with the 1993 World Trade Center attack and the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah building in Oklahoma City. These events prompted the government to pass the Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. After the attack of September 11th and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, this increase of funding for tactical training was expanded to include building the critical thinking capacity within the homeland security enterprise. In 2002 we saw the establishment of the Homeland Security Centers of Excellence. Then in 2003, additional funding was allocated to expand education even further. One of these undertakings occurred at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. So, let’s take a walk into the past and hear about the origin story of the Center for Homeland Defense and Security.

In today’s episode, I had the opportunity to speak with the Director of FEMA’s National Integration Center, Mr. Dan Alexander. Our conversation centered on the direction and changes that have been underway at FEMA since Administrator Brock Long began implementing his vision.  Some of you may have heard our conversation with Brock in Episode 1, which happened to be our inaugural show. We were fortunate to be one of the first forums where he publicly outlined his vision of Building a Culture of Preparedness and the shift of FEMA’s role in the changing dynamics and frequency of catastrophic events. In this episode, Dan and I talk about how that’s been going, integrating lessons learned, and briefly touch upon the newly released Community Lifelines.

This is the third episode in our 3-part series looking into school shootings. In Part 1, we looked at the data collection platform – K-12 School Shooting Database. In the following episode, we discussed various stages related to policy and tactical considerations and we delved into pre-hospital and hospital care strengths and areas for improvement. In this episode, I'm joined by Douglas Berglund and Jennifer Harper. Our conversation focuses on current efforts that have been identifying and offering prevention and preparedness solutions for schools and districts to aid in developing their crisis or emergency operations plans. These programs aren’t solely focused on an active shooter situation; rather, they assist in identifying intervention points to help troubled youth before an incident occurs; solutions for reunification of children and parents following an incident; and, strategies to provide mental health resources to schools, communities, and emergency responders.

In this show, we talk with Lt. Steve Simonds, Jim Morrissey, and Dr. Carol Cunningham about the school shooting, the tragedy, that occurred at Great Mills High School in Saint Mary’s County, Maryland on March 20, 2018. We also talk about training and intervention during and immediately following these events, then we take a look at differing components of our pre-hospital and hospital care systems and how they have to adapt. Part 1 in the School Shooting Series

This Podcast kicks off our 3-part series focused on school shootings. In this episode, we speak with Desmond O’Neill and David Riedman who walk us through the origins of the K-12 School Shooting Database they developed while attending the Advanced Thinking in Homeland Security program, also known as HSx, offered at the Center for Homeland Defense and Security.

Episode 008: In Episode 005, we interviewed Phillip Osborne about cyber-hygiene. That episode kicked off our first show dedicated to you – the Homeland Security practitioner. For many of our listeners, your efforts at work and home dominate your time, while the most important person is often overlooked…you. Today’s episode is the second show dedicated to you and centers on your personal health and fitness. Our guest is one of the top Pilates and fitness instructors – Mr. John Garey. John has been involved within the fitness industry his entire life. Starting long before he attended New York University where he received master’s degree in Physical Education and continuing throughout his career. John has traveled across the globe to train instructors from the very basic to advance techniques in Pilates, he operates a Pilates and fitness center in Long Beach, CA, and has an online fitness platform.

Episode 007. Our conversation is with Sheriff Jim McDonnell of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. We’ll be discussing issues ranging from challenges associated with managing the County jail system in terms of health care, education, reintegration, and other related topics. We also delve into challenges with the opioid epidemic, mental health concerns, mass notification, and interagency cooperation.

Episode 006.  In this episode, we’re taking a look at Russia’s social media war against the United States, assault on our democracy, and some options our government may use to combat this battle between facts and fakes.

Episode 005.  With this episode and some upcoming shows, we’re taking a slightly different approach by focusing on you, the homeland security practitioner. In your efforts to take care of this country and its people, one important person is often overlooked…YOU. Today’s show addresses cyber-hygiene and what you can do to protect yourself, your family, and the work you do. We’re joined by Phillip Osborn, CHDS Master’s program alum from cohort 0701/0702. Phillip retired from homeland security investigations with ICE as a Supervisory Special Agent, and today he’s an adjunct professor addressing cybersecurity. Phillip spent nearly 20-years working on cyber crimes and shares some simple steps to improve your security while operating in an insecure cyber environment.

Episode 004: Today’s show brings Mona Barnes to Homeland: The Podcast. Mona is the Director for the Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency. We talk about the trials, tribulations, and successes contending with two-Category 5 hurricanes striking just twelve days apart.

Today we are joined by Stephen Twing, managing editor for Homeland Security Affairs. This peer reviewed journal provides a forum for proposing and debating strategies, policies, and organizational arrangements to strengthen U.S. homeland security.

This episode features NPS instructors Anders Strindberg and David Brannan. They walk us through the challenges and changes of the Islamic State to terrorism within the United States. They also stress the need for building relationships across our communities.

With the increase in catastrophic events, is a course correction needed for FEMA response? Please join us for our inaugural podcast with FEMA Administrator Brock Long.

Introduction to this Podcast and the CHDS Southern California Regional Alumni Chapter, it’s lead and co-leads. We hope this podcast becomes a forum to discuss, debate and educate listeners in a wide range of homeland security topics developing dialoging and networking opportunities among CHDS Alumni.