Thursday August 1, 2013
What is it?
The Army’s antiterrorism (AT) program protects personnel, information, and facilities in all locations and situations against terrorist activities. The purpose of AT Awareness Month is to instill Army-wide heightened awareness and vigilance to protect Army communities from acts of terrorism. To protect our communities, we must embed AT awareness into training, leader development, and education across the force. That level of awareness is our most certain defense against terrorists.
Why is this important to the Army?
Antiterrorism awareness empowers the entire Army (units, leaders, Soldiers, DA civilians, families, and contractors) to take prevention measures and encourages each individual to serve as a “sensor” – continuously aware of and reporting suspicious activity. This year AT Awareness Month focuses on priority areas such as recognizing and reporting suspicious activity, the use of social media to support community outreach, and Army law enforcement as a critical enabler for the protection our communities.
What is the Army doing?
Some of the Army’s most significant AT initiatives for fiscal year 2013 (FY 13) include continuous emphasis on the implementation of iWATCH Army, development of a primer for the use of social media to expand AT awareness community outreach, and an ongoing, concerted effort to establish a new Army Threat Integration Center (ARTIC) to integrate, fuse, analyze, and disseminate all-source threat information. Most recently, on July 17, 2013, the Department released and a new Sergeant Major of the Army’s Antiterrorism Awareness Video.
In support of an active AT awareness campaign, the Department of the Army, Office of the Provost Marshal General (OPMG) develops products and tools to support the field. These products are available on the Army OPMG Antiterrorism Enterprise Portal (search terms: Army OPMG ATEP on AKO).
In addition, to commemorate the attacks of 911, the OPMG (AT Branch) will establish an AT information booth in the Pentagon from Aug. 6-8, 2013, to share information with members of the Army staff as well as other Pentagon tenants. Commands from across the Army will also be conducting events to observe AT Awareness Month.
What continued efforts does the Army have in the future?
Resources:
Subscribe to STAND-TO! to learn about the U.S. Army initiatives.