Terrorism and Homeland Security Management

The Department of Homeland Security manages domestic and foreign issues related to terrorism and security through strategic planning and operations. This report analyzes key documents to evaluate the alignment of agency priorities with department priorities and recommends measures to address any misalignment.

Running head: TERRORISM AND HOMELAND SECURITY MANAGEMENT
Terrorism and Homeland Security Management
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TERRORISM AND HOMELAND SECURITY MANAGEMENT
Executive Summary
The Department of Homeland Security was founded in the year of 2002 as a countermeasure
of terrorist attacks on the USA. Further, it was entrusted with the entire task of managing the
homeland security including the responsibilities of anti-terrorism, customs, immigrations,
cyber security, disaster prevention, border security etc. The department manages domestic
and foreign issues by employing a unique combination of criminal and civil laws and it
operates through a number of allied agencies. In order to keep these entities in track with the
central objective and the goals of the department, the DHS employs specifically designed
planning and strategies. To evaluate the performance of the respective agencies, the DHS
uses strategic review systems. Moreover, this review process help the DHS identify any
misalignment in the part of the agencies. The following paper is a decision support paper that
provides a review of certain necessary documents attached with the operations and strategic
planning of the DHS. In the due process, the report analyses Homeland Security Quadrennial
Review (HSQR), Bottom Up Review (BUR), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Fiscal Years (FY) 2014–2018 Strategic Plan (StratPlan), and the DHS FY2015 Budget in
Brief (BIB) to evaluate the operations of the agencies and report any misalignment found in
the process. It also recommends measures to address those gaps to ensure enhanced security
of the nation and its people.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Purpose Statement......................................................................................................................3
Background discussion...............................................................................................................4
Analysis methodology discussion..............................................................................................4
Summary of the specified documents........................................................................................4
Quadrennial Homeland Security Review (QHSR)................................................................4
Bottom-Up Review (BUR)....................................................................................................5
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Fiscal Years (FY) 2014–2018 Strategic Plan
(StratPlan)..............................................................................................................................5
DHS FY2015 Budget in Brief (BIB).....................................................................................6
Summary of key findings...........................................................................................................6
Conclusion and Recommendations............................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
Terrorism has been identified as a menace in the modern human civilization. Several
nationalist, fundamentalist or religious groups, rebellious insurgents and even governments
engages in terrorism for the fulfilment of political purposes across the globe. Common people
are the main targets of this violent crime, which often leads to mass destruction, torture or
killing of innocent human beings.
Like many other nations, the United States of America has been a victim of terrorism
for a long time now. According to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office,
the USA has experienced 85 extremist incidents in the last two years alone. On 11th
September, 2001 the nation has seen the gravest of terrorist attacks in the form of the World
trade Centre collapse and the following death and massacre.
As a consequence of this particular terrorist attack, the federal government has
established the Department of Homeland Security. DHS is the newest cabinet department of
the US federal government that acts roughly as the home ministries of other nations. It has
the responsibility of ensuring public security by addressing issues like terrorism, customs,
immigrations, cyber security, disaster prevention, border security etc. (Department of
Homeland Security, 2019).
Purpose Statement
The present paper serves as a decision support report of the previous information
report regarding the budgetary allocation and strategic executions of the Department of
Homeland Security. The aim of this report is to critically examine the DHS documents to
determine whether or not the directorate priorities are aligned with department priorities. And
if not, how each of the entity can be realigned with the objectives of the department.

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Background discussion
The department manages domestic and foreign issues by employing a unique
combination of criminal and civil laws. Moreover, the department ensures security measures
fr the nation and its people by adopting carefully designed strategies and planning and
operating through multiple agencies. Therefore, it is essential for the department to keep all
the entities on track with its mission, vision and goals. Simultaneously, the department uses a
number of reviewing processes to evaluate the performance of these agencies. Therefore, to
identify any misalignment on the part of these agencies, the review reports submitted by the
respective agencies are proven to be useful.
In the present report, four of such review reports, namely quadrennial homeland
security review (QHSR), bottom-up review (BUR), strategic plan (StratPlan), and budget-in-
brief (BIB) review will be analysed for the said purpose.
Analysis methodology discussion
The methodology that the report will follow will be analytic. An in-depth study of
each of the review will produce a detailed understanding of the respective agency’s activity
and consequentially will enable the department to detect any misalignment.
Summary of the specified documents
Quadrennial Homeland Security Review (QHSR)
The Quadrennial Review of the DHS is a report on the strategic framework followed
by the participating entities. It is updated every four years and offers recommendations for
the strategies and priorities of homeland security on a long-term basis. Started out in 2010,

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the review provides key findings on the operations and outcomes of the department. The
second QHSR offers a valuable insight to develop a collaborative and focused departmental
strategy involving all the federal, state, tribal, territorial and local authorities. The risk-
informed priorities has been a major reinforcement to design the strategies to meet the future
challenges of homeland security (Department of Homeland Security, 2018).
Bottom-Up Review (BUR)
The Bottom-Up Review offers a thorough report of department-wide assessment of
the various agencies of the Homeland Department. The review follows the assessment of the
QHSR and analyses the activities and organizational structure of the various departments to
evaluate their alignment with the department goals by the standard of their compliance with
the five mission areas, namely prevention, protection, mitigation, response and recovery. The
BUR serves as a roadmap for the improvement of the operations and management of the
respective departments and enhancing their accountability (Department of Homeland
Security, 2015).
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Fiscal Years (FY) 2014–2018
Strategic Plan (StratPlan)
The DHS StratPlan is the assessment that presents the guidelines to adhere to the
QHSR recommendations. The Stratplan fulfils the GPRA Modification Act of 2010 (P.L.
111-352) and the Office of Management and Budget’s Circular A-11, Part 6 (2013)
requirement to publish an agency strategy plan applicable to all the federal agencies. It
provides the agencies with the operational strategies and analytic foundation to meet the

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Department’s Unity of Effort Initiative requirement and aligning themselves with the
departmental objective (Department of Homeland Security, 2015)
DHS FY2015 Budget in Brief (BIB)
The BIB is the presidential statement of the allocated budget of the DHS. The
financial supplement aids the operations and management of the department by underlining
key budgetary allowance for its respective agencies. In the fiscal year of 2015, the federal
government allocated a discretionary budget of $38.2 billion to the Homeland Security to
sustain its operations of domestic security, anti-terrorism, customs, cyber security,
immigration etc. Thus, the BIB provides a systematic assessment of the key areas to be
funded with financial resource. In a way, the BIB represents the alignment of the agencies
with the respective StratPlans in terms of financial planning (Department of Homeland
Security, 2016)
Summary of key findings
Upon reviewing the necessary documents, the study reaches the conclusion that the
various departments and agencies of the Department of Homeland Security are designed to be
work in the set direction of fulfilling the common objective and goals of the DHS. The
produced documents clearly complement each other in order to provide a fundamental
guideline to work in collaboration. However, there are some minor misalignments in terms of
strategy designing. In the United States Customs and Border Protection StratPlan, 12 strategic
initiatives have been mentioned to ensure the homeland security. The Goal 1 of the StratPlan
emphasizes the security of the national borders by advanced monitoring and management,
although it does not clarify the operational guidelines and strategy for identifying potential
threats that may arise in the Port of Entries (POE). (Customs and Border Protection, 2014)

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Additionally, the Border Security Program of the agency proposes the increase of
screening and information sharing between federal agencies. However, it does not clearly
states its strategy to cooperate with allied nations and the impact of the increased border
security on the international relations of the country. (Customs and Border Protection, 2014)
Conclusion and Recommendations
The report would recommend the respective entities to design their strategies in
accordance with the central objectives of the DHS. The clarification of the strategies is an
important factor for collaboration. Additionally, the agencies could develop a local reporting
system that would help the department identify and counteract potential threats in an effective
manner. Thus, the common prioritization and strategic operations could better serve the
nation for ensuring homeland security

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References
Customs and Border Protection. (2014, February 12). 2012-2016 U.S. border patrol strategic
plan. Retrieved from https://www.cbp.gov/border-security/along-us-borders/strategic-
plan
Department of Homeland Security History. (2019). Retrieved 9 September 2019, from
https://www.dhs.gov/history
Department of Homeland Security. (2015, September 23). Bottom-up review. Retrieved from
https://www.dhs.gov/publication/bottom-review
Department of Homeland Security. (2015, September 30). Fiscal years 2014-2018 strategic
plan. Retrieved from https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/FY14-
18%20Strategic%20Plan.PDF
Department of Homeland Security. (2016, February 16). FY 2017 budget-in-brief. Retrieved
from https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/FY2017_BIB-MASTER.pdf
Department of Homeland Security. (2016, May 11). Our mission. Retrieved from
https://www.dhs.gov/our-mission
Department of Homeland Security. (2018, January 3). Quadrennial Homeland Security
Review (QHSR). Retrieved from https://www.dhs.gov/quadrennial-homeland-
security-review

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