Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management

Crisis and Emergency Management

Newsletter Website
return to mainpage

April 2004                                                                            Volume 6 - Number 3

Related Sites:

Perspectives...

Personal View on Terrorism

Bryan Koon

I know terrorism exists. I have spent the last five plus years planning for the most cataclysmic events man has devised: attacks by immobilizing chemical agents, horrifying biological threats, incapacitation by radiological dispersal, and complete annihilation from nuclear weapons. I know all about the threats that are out there, the ways they can kill me, the ways to detect them, the groups that possess them, and ways to neutralize them. I know all about donning a gas mask, injecting myself with antidote in the event of a nerve agent attack. I can tell you what type of filtration system is most likely to help you survive such an attack. I can tell you the quickest way to let everyone know that such an attack is underway, and the best way to get out of town when all of this goes down. I can probably even tell you why we just went to Code Orange (although I may be a bit vague – you understand). I know that threat is real.

Nevertheless, I continue to work in downtown DC, live within blast radius of Downtown and National Airport, and ride the nearly security-presence free Metro system daily. I don’t keep a stockpile of bottled water, duct tape, and Meals Ready to Eat in my basement. I fly more now than I ever did before September 11^th. I even occasionally go to large public gatherings.

Why would I behave with such reckless abandon, knowing that every second I spend living in the Washington, DC area could be my last? How do I even sleep at night, when the neighborhood quiets down and I can hear trains carrying loads of toxic material rumble past less than a mile from my house?

First of all, I realize that despite the chance of terrorist activity taking my life prematurely (I’m more nervous about driving on the Beltway, to be frank), my potential lifespan is the longest it’s ever been, thanks to modern science. I know the perils that our forefathers faced, and frankly, we’ve got it pretty easy. Secondly, I enjoy living here. The very things that make DC a likely target are the things that draw people here – lots of activity, lots of attractions, lots of jobs. I don’t want to miss all of that on the slim chance that today is the day that something happens. I also know that terrorism isn’t limited to our nation’s capital, and that the areas that are truly safe have their own inherent dangers (isolation, depression, and grizzly bear attacks). Finally, my job is important. I do things that will help people during periods of crisis and extreme confusion, and I’m proud of that job. It’s not the kind of thing I can do from the safety of a remote cabin; I have to be here to analyze the threats and make sure the plans I write make sense.

I’m not burying my head in the sand about terrorism. I watched the smoke from the Pentagon from the window of my house. I’ve been angrier than I’d ever been in my life when the USS COLE was attacked, because I had been on ships in port in the Persian Gulf. I know that terrorists will attack the United States again in the future, and that Washington, DC specifically will bear the brunt of some of those attacks. I also know that my current job, and hopefully, future jobs, will help people when those attacks come, and may just save a few lives.