Unit 1

Question 1

Executive Order 13228

Answer 1

On October 8, 2001, President Bush issued Executive Order 13228, titled “Establishing the Office of Homeland Security and the Homeland Security Council.”

Question 2

Haymarket Riot of 1886

Answer 2

During Chicago’s Haymarket Riot of 1886, an anarchist threw a dynamite bomb at police officers, who then opened fire on protesters. Scores of officers and civilians were wounded.

Question 3

Homeland security enterprise

Answer 3

Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano explained that a new comprehensiveness, termed the homeland security enterprise, serves as the core concept for the Quadrennial Homeland Security Review Report’s strategic framework.

Question 4

Homeland Security Presidential Directives (HSPDs)

Answer 4

On October 29, 2001, President Bush released the first of many HSPDs, which implement policies and procedures constituting the homeland security enterprise.

Question 5

Homestead Steel Strike of 1892

Answer 5

During the Homestead Steel Strike of 1892 on the Monongahela River near Pittsburgh, a strike by steelworkers resulted in a pitched gun battle between striking workers and hundreds of Pinkerton agents (in which the strikers prevailed). The strike was eventually suppressed following intervention by the Pennsylvania state militia.

Question 6

Quadrennial Homeland Security Review Report: A Strategic Framework for a Secure Homeland (QHSR)

Answer 6

A document published by the Department of Homeland Security intending to consolidate the definition of homeland security by presenting the concept as encompassing a broader and more comprehensive mission than previously envisioned. The QHSR is a documentary acknowledgment that homeland security is evolving conceptually.

Question 7

USA PATRIOT Act of 2001

Answer 7

On October 26, 2001, President George W. Bush signed the “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001,” commonly known as the USA PATRIOT Act, into law. It was an omnibus law whose stated purpose was, in part, to “deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world” by expanding the investigative and surveillance authority of law enforcement agencies.

Question 8

Whiskey Rebellion

Answer 8

One of the early post-independence disturbances was popularly known as the Whiskey Rebellion, an anti-tax uprising in western Pennsylvania (1791–1794).

Question 9

all-hazards umbrella

Answer 9

All-hazards preparation entails preparation for a wide range of natural and human-made disasters

Question 10

CBRNE

Answer 10

Acronym for chemical agents, biological agents, radiological agents, nuclear weapons, and explosives.

Question 11

cyclone

Answer 11

A hurricane in the Indian Ocean or South Pacific.

Question 12

disaster

Answer 12

Conditions rise to the level of a disaster when emergency response institutions are unable to contain or resolve one or more critical services, such as fire management, the restoration of order, attending to medical needs, or providing shelter. Official declarations of disaster are made by the president of the United States after he receives a request from a governor.

Question 13

emergency event:

Answer 13

An emergency event occurs when a hazard does, in fact, result in a condition of risk, necessitating intervention by emergency response institutions, such as law enforcement, medical personnel, or firefighting agencies.

Question 14

emergency response operations

Answer 14

Coordinated interventions undertaken when emergencies occur

Question 15

Enhanced Fujita–Pearson Scale

Answer 15

Reporting of tornado intensity is done in accordance with the Enhanced Fujita–Pearson Scale (Enhanced F-Scale) developed in 2007 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Question 16

Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs)

Answer 16

Maps created, maintained, and regularly updated by the National Flood Insurance Program for “floodplain management and insurance purposes” that “generally show a community’s base flood elevations, flood zones, and floodplain boundaries.”

Question 17

flood zones

Answer 17

National land areas differentiated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) according to their risk of flooding

Question 18

hazard

Answer 18

A condition posing potential risks that can result in either an emergency event or a disaster

Question 19

hurricane

Answer 19

A tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 74 miles per hour or higher

Question 20

Hurricane Andrew

Answer 20

In 1992, Hurricane Andrew struck the United States, causing an estimated $26 billion in damage. The federal response was widely criticized as unnecessarily slow and uncoordinated

Question 21

Hurricane Katrina

Answer 21

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the United States, causing nearly 2,000 deaths and billions of dollars in destruction. The federal response was strongly criticized as unacceptably inadequate and ponderous.

Question 22

Hurricane Sandy

Answer 22

At its peak, Sandy was a Category 3 hurricane, but its eventual merger with a frontal weather system made it an unusually large storm, eventually becoming the geographically largest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded. For this reason, Hurricane Sandy was given the popular nickname “Superstorm Sandy.”

Question 23

mitigation of risk

Answer 23

“The effort to reduce loss of life and property by lessening the impact of disasters.”19 Mitigation mechanisms are pre-emergency initiatives that theoretically reduce the potential costs and destructiveness of disasters when they occur.

Question 24

Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale

Answer 24

A measurement scale for earthquakes.

Question 25

National Flood Insurance Program

Answer 25

A program initiated by FEMA that regularly disburses funds for flood-related insurance claims

Question 26

natural hazards

Answer 26

Natural hazards and disasters are emergency incidents arising from nonhuman causes. Such incidents are the consequence of phenomena arising from natural environmental conditions. Events such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods are examples of natural hazards.

Question 27

Non-Special Flood Hazard Areas

Answer 27

Areas that have a moderate to low risk of flooding

Question 28

non-wildland fires

Answer 28

Fires that occur in populated areas and affect human-constructed infrastructure.

Question 29

preparedness planning

Answer 29

The design and adoption of emergency management contingencies prior to the occurrence of an emergency situation. Preparations are made to increase the likelihood that an initial response effort and the subsequent recovery period will ultimately be efficient and successful

Question 30

recovery systems

Answer 30

Recovery systems are implemented in the aftermath of emergency events and attempt to return affected regions to predisaster baselines. This requires, at a minimum, rebuilding damaged infrastructure and restoring affected populations to their pre-emergency norms of living. Recovery operations are often quite expensive and long term.

Question 31

Richter Scale

Answer 31

A measurement scale for earthquakes.

Question 32

Special Flood Hazard Areas

Answer 32

Areas that “are at high risk for flooding” and have “a 26 percent chance of suffering flood damage during the term of a 30-year mortgage.

Question 33

storm surge

Answer 33

A wall of water pushed forward by an approaching hurricane.

Question 34

tropical cyclone

Answer 34

A “rotating, organized system of clouds and thunderstorms that originates over tropical or subtropical waters and has a closed low-level circulation

Question 35

tropical depression

Answer 35

A tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds of up to 38 miles per hour.

Question 36

tropical storm

Answer 36

A tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 39 to 73 miles per hour.

Question 37

tsunami

Answer 37

A series of massive waves created when seawater is displaced by earthquakes or other disturbances on the ocean floor.

Question 38

typhoon

Answer 38

A hurricane in the western North Pacific

Question 39

wildland fires

Answer 39

Fires that occur in woodland areas

Question 40

Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996

Answer 40

The United States passed its first comprehensive counterterrorism legislation, titled the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, in 1996. The purpose of the Anti-Terrorism Act was to regulate activity that could be used to mount a terrorist attack, provide resources for counterterrorist programs, and punish terrorism

Question 41

Convention to Prevent and Punish Acts of Terrorism Taking the Form of Crimes Against Persons and Related Extortion That Are of International Significance

Answer 41

A treaty among members of the Organization of American States that “sought to define attacks against internationally protected persons as common crimes, regardless of motives

Question 42

Country Reports on Terrorism

Answer 42

The U.S. Department of State regularly publishes a document titled Country Reports on Terrorism, which identifies and lists state sponsors of terrorism and foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs)

Question 43

Department of Homeland Security Act of 2002

Answer 43

President George W. Bush, in June 2002, initiated a process that completely reorganized the American homeland security community. This process led to the enactment of the Department of Homeland Security Act of 2002, which was signed into law on November 25, 2002. The new law created a large, cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security.

Question 44

foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs)

Answer 44

Country Reports on Terrorism reports an updated list of organizations designated by the State Department as FTOs. This list is regularly revised in compliance with Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Question 45

Hague Convention of 1970

Answer 45

This treaty required signatories to extradite “hijackers to their country of origin or to prosecute them under the judicial code of the recipient state

Question 46

international conventions

Answer 46

Multinational agreements between partner countries that state that specified protocols and procedures will be respected among signatories. The underlying purposes of international conventions enacted during specific historical periods reflect the quality of terrorist threats existing at the time.

Question 47

International Court of Justice

Answer 47

The principal judicial arm of the United Nations. The court hears disputes between nations and gives advisory opinions to recognized international organizations.

Question 48

International Criminal Court

Answer 48

A court established to prosecute crimes against humanity, such as genocide. Its motivating principle is to promote human rights and justice.