Counter Terror Training with ISSEE

Submitted by Anonymous on Saturday, 8th November 2014

Terrorism, from whatever religious, political or ideological goal, is designed to strike fear into the hearts and minds of the population.

The responsibility for countering terrorism and the threat of terrorism lies in the main with Governments and their various departments of state such as Police, intelligence services, military and special forces.

As terrorists become more expert in the use of technology and with greater access to funds, training and equipping those responsible for the deterrent becomes more and more expensive and time consuming.  Maintaining the skills acquired during training can also be a challenge, especially during long periods of inactivity.  The balance is to acquire and sustain the best training and equipment for the most economical outlay.

Throughout the world, governments are looking to reduce their expenditure on public services and yet maintain the very highest capabilities required to deliver world class Homeland Security.  They are increasingly looking to the commercial sector to deliver training and to develop and supply the equipment needed to provide the most effective response.

Following the reduction in the levels of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, there is now no shortage of commercial companies who purport to be able to deliver these services.  However, the standards of training can vary significantly and of course this will affect the standards, quality and effectiveness of the response teams deployed to meet the terrorists’ actions.

The responsibility of any Government is to protect its citizens, its property and infrastructure.  The delivery of counter terrorism effects in Iraq, Afghanistan and other ‘warzones’, where collateral damage caused by an explosion may be considered as a ‘consequence of war’, is not acceptable in a modern, urban environment.  The requirement for any nation must be to deliver highly trained responders who are capable of dealing with the full terrorist arsenal, without excessive disruption to daily activity or damage to property.

At ISSEE, the consultants and trainers have extensive experience of operations in urban and rural areas, cities and transport infrastructure, which covers decades of UK involvement through the troubles in Northern Ireland to current operations overseas.  Predominantly drawn from the UK MOD and the UK Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism arena, the ISSEE pool of expertise is rightly considered to be second to none.

A sound counter terrorism development philosophy is based on the overarching strategic aim of building long-term sustainable capability within an organisation or nation.  Underpinning this is a need to take the current indigenous capability through a transformational process to a new and effective higher plane; this requires much deeper activity than just traditional training.  The task encompasses training all levels from the strategic, through to the front line operational and tactical levels of activity.  Developing integrated standard operational procedures and systems, understood and recognised by all, forms only part of the desired outcome.  Periodic review and monitoring subsequent progress ensures that a complete, effective and evolving capability endures.

Opportunities to develop world-class counter terrorist responses should be seized early.  By involving ISSEE in the initial stages of planning, organisations will be guided through a review of existing capabilities and then matched to the needs of the intent envisaged.  Services and solutions will be designed and agreed throughout the process and so reduce lead time and cost.  ISSEE believes in working with customers to generate a full capability – not just a single event.  A full capability solution will consider the selection of personnel and equipment, initial and advanced training, identification of suitable indigenous instructors, development of operating procedures, design of training exercises, integration of other teams and commanders, mentoring and development and periodic assessment.

Response teams alone will not defeat terrorism.  Intelligence and information management are critical, as are post event investigation and forensic management.  A fully capable counter terrorism training and services provider must be able to deliver all these disciplines with confidence and credibility.  ISSEE’s experience of designing and operating intelligence-led databases, investigating explosives and ammunition incidents and its partnerships with Portsmouth University’s forensics department and several valued equipment providers, make it an ideal choice.

In sum, many commercial organisations will claim to provide world-class, contemporary training and services to aid Government Departments of State prepare for and tackle terrorism. As a member of the UK Standards Setting Board for the NOS and a member of the Institute of Explosives Engineers, ISSEE can be trusted to provide the solution or service to meet the most demanding threat or issue.


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About ISSEE

ISSEE is a world-class provider of security and explosives consultancy and training to national and international defence, police, INGOs and commercial organisations.

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