WEST POINT, N.Y. (Aug. 11, 2010) -- Military communities worldwide have already initiated antiterrorism awareness training with the recent Active Shooter exercise and the annual antiterrorism training for military and civilians who travel to give them situational awareness to help protect them from becoming victims of terrorist.
A new Army-wide antiterrorism effort began Aug. 1 in conjunction with the Army initiative declaring August as Antiterrorism Month. August was selected because of the month's proximity to Sept. 11 when terrorist attacked our country in 2001.
The Army's antiterrorism efforts include the iWatch campaign to enhance terrorism awareness within the Army community and to encourage community members to be alert to possible terrorist activities. The iWatch campaign is modeled after the national neighborhood watch campaign designed to aid civilian police in detecting possible criminal activities.
The program, designed to encourage and enable members of the community to help protect their communities by identifying and reporting suspicious behavior that is known to be associated with terrorist activities, is governed by DOD Directive 5400.11. Two elements of iWatch are individual situational awareness of surroundings and individuals taking action to report suspicious behavior to law enforcement. In the case of suspicious activities at West Point, call the Military Police at 938-3333.
The Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobility and Security initiated the antiterrorism campaign at the National Night Out event sponsored by Balfour Beatty Communities Aug. 3 here.
"The antiterrorism and force protection office had a table providing hand outs and circulars to participants," said Matt Cassidy, antiterrorism officer for DPTMS. "We also had a table at the Community Fair Aug. 5."
Access to the iWatch website is through the West Point homepage at www.westpoint.edu. Just click the iWatch icon.
"Once at the site, readers will see a single iWatch informational page with a link to a suspicious activity report," Cassidy said. "Should a report be filled out, it will be sent to a desksgt@usma.army.mil account viewable by Department of Emergency Services desk sergeants."
More awareness events will take place Aug. 26 with two AT Level 1 training sessions open to the community. The morning session is at 9:30 a.m. in Robinson Auditorium in Thayer Hall and an evening training in Mahan Hall begins at 6 p.m.
"We also distributed posters throughout the installation with the main emphasis on primary gathering places and schools and did an information briefing to the new Child Development Center Aug. 3 and will do an additional briefing at the old CDC Aug. 19," Cassidy said.
Questions pertaining to antiterrorism training, iWatch or other force protection matters can be addressed by the AT/FP office by calling 938-3650 or 8859.
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