First Observer program training now available online
First Observer is a national terrorism awareness program that uses the skills, experiences and “savvy" of Americans who spend a good part of their working day in America's surface transportation. The Trucker file photo)
The Trucker News Services
10/14/2009
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Transportation professionals wishing to do their part to prevent another terrorist attack on U.S. soil can now receive the First Observer program's terrorism awareness training online at www.firstobserver.com.
The 38 minute training can be viewed all at once or in sections as an individual's time permits.
First Observer is a national terrorism awareness program that uses the skills, experiences and “savvy" of Americans who spend a good part of their working day in America's surface transportation.
Individuals who are transportation professionals are eligible for certification, including bus drivers (school, transit), law enforcement, truckers and others with a commercial driver's license, emergency first responders, infrastructure personnel and security personnel.
First Observer is the successor to the recently-ended Highway Watch program.
"Many of our transportation professionals are on the road a good deal of the time, so it's very important to make it as easy as possible for them to become certified First Observers," Charles Hall, president and CEO of the HMS Co., grant manager of the First Observer program. "This online video training will make it easier for transportation professionals all across the country to enroll in the First Observer program while maintaining the quality of the training presentation."
The First Observer program provides surface transportation professionals — school bus drivers, truck drivers, motor coach drivers, emergency first responders, and others — with terrorism awareness training which teaches them to recognize potential safety and security threats to themselves and/or their vehicle.
If they see suspicious activities, First Observer participants are trained to file a report through a special hotline where a trained operator can assess the nature and urgency of the call and route the information provided to the appropriate authorities, Hall said.
When a call involving a security threat is received, the information provided is immediately forwarded to the Highway Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC) where it is analyzed by security experts and shared with government intelligence officials and other law enforcement agencies.
Before the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. missed detecting and acting on some very suspicious activities, Hall said.
“Today, the First Observer program provides a means for the reporting of suspicious activities to a national contact center where this potentially life-saving information is routed to ISAC, located within TSA's own Transportation Security Operations Center,” he said.
There, industry and government analysts piece together a more complete image of seemingly independent activities that may in fact be related and may indicate a terrorist operation in the works. This analytical information is then disseminated to the appropriate law enforcement partners, transportation organizations and individual First Observers.
"We're very pleased to add another tool to the First Observer program's training arsenal," First Observer ISAC Director Don L. Rondeau, said. "The First Observer program and the subsequent creation of a national Information Sharing and Analysis Center to analyze the reports being made by First Observer participants is a key component of America's new anti-terrorism efforts. The more transportation professionals we have making reports to the national call center, the more likely it is that we'll be able to detect potential terrorist activities. We strongly encourage all transportation professionals to join us today."
First Observer is fully funded through FY 2011 by Transportation Security Administration monies allocated in the FY 2008 Trucking Security Program.
It is managed by “Team HMS,” which is comprised of the HMS Co., Total Security Services International, Inc.; the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and Patton Boggs LLC and is supported by other transportation organizations and associations.
Surface transportation personnel wishing to receive training through the First Observer program can call at (888) 217-5902 or visit the program's website at www.firstobserver.com.
The Trucker staff can be reached to comment on this article at editor@thetrucker.com.
Follow The Trucker on Twitter at www.twitter.com/truckertalk.