First Area Certification Courses in Homeland Security Hosted by Navy COOL, NAS Pensacola Security
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS081129-01
Release Date: 11/29/2008 1:09:00 PM
By Gary Nichols, Center for Information Dominance Public Affairs
PENSACOLA, Fla. (NNS) -- The first Certification in Homeland Security (CHS) courses taught in Northwest Florida were held at the Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola Conference Center Nov. 18-19.
A total of 75 active-duty military personnel and civilians attended both the level CHS-IV and CHS-V courses, which were hosted by Center for Information Dominance Corry Station Navy Credentialing Opportunities Online (COOL) program and the NAS Pensacola Security Department.
Retired Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy and Navy COOL Analyst Keith Boring explained that the two-day course was promoted locally to give the Sailors an opportunity to reach the advanced level certifications offered by the American Board for Certification in Homeland Security (ABCHS).
"Feedback from the Sailors attending the training was overwhelmingly positive," Boring said. "The ABCHS instructor and the ABCHS chief association officer were extremely impressed with the participation, professionalism and the success of the personnel involved in arranging the exams and the personnel attending the exams."
Results from the first day of testing revealed that 63 out of 64 students successfully passed the CHS-IV examination. The pass rate for the CHS-IV course was 98.44 percent, much higher that the typical pass rate of about 85 percent for similar testing nationwide.
Seventy-five students participated in the CHS-V course on the second day.
Retired Army Col. Andrew J. Jurchenko Sr. served as the keynote lecturer throughout the two days. A military and collegiate instructor for the past 40 years, Jurchenko spoke at length about the stark reality of the challenges facing the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security in an increasingly hostile and unpredictable world.
"I think the students learned a lot," Jurchenko said. "It's not a question of if we have another attack like 9/11, it's a matter of when."
Retired Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy and Navy COOL Analyst Antonio Torres praised the coursework.
"You're working with the real world when you get into this business," Torres said. "This presentation is as real as it gets. It's not sugar coated."
Jurchenko said that CHS courses are important for all military personnel because it's the military that is responsible for homeland defense, especially for the master-at-arms who are responsible for security.
"Having an understanding of homeland security, not only affects the Sailor at a personal level, but also at the command level, at the Navy level, and at the national level because homeland security is a national initiative," Torres added. "It reaches beyond the individual Sailor, it reaches the nation."
The Department of Homeland Security was established in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The department is tasked with preparing for, preventing, and responding to natural disasters, domestic emergencies and terrorist attacks.
The new department was the largest governmental reorganization since the end of World War II. The end result is a streamlined security effort to foster increased cooperation between local, state and national governmental agencies.
"The Department of Homeland Security is working to strengthen cooperation with state and local governments – so we can prevent terrorist attacks, and respond effectively if we have to," remarked President George W. Bush in a March 6, 2008, speech commemorating the fifth anniversary of the Department of Homeland Security.
A year after the inception of the Department of Homeland Security, the first nationally-recognized certification program for Homeland Security was developed and implemented. The program has five levels, with progressing levels of qualifications designed to recognize individual expertise and to increase knowledge of homeland security matters.
To become eligible for the CHS-IV or CHS-V courses, students must first pass CHS courses I-III.
To be eligible for these the first three courses, students are typically required to have between one and five years of experience in their respective Homeland Security-related fields. These first three courses are typically taken online and at each progressive step, the course work becomes more involved and more difficult.
Although available online, the ABCHS recommends taking a course to complete the CHS-IV due to the complexity of the information.
The board notes that completing the CHS-V certificate is only possible by attending a CHS certification course or conference, such as the one that was offered at NAS Pensacola Nov. 19.
Some of the subjects covered during the two days included: terrorism and emergency preparedness, weapons of mass destruction response, chemical agents, biological agents, radiological agents, incident management, crisis and disaster incidents and catastrophic incident recovery.
"We've worked with officials in 75 major metropolitan areas to improve the ability of first responders to communicate clearly in an emergency," Bush said. "We've helped establish mutual aid agreements within states … so that when communities need help from their neighbors, the right assistance will get to the right people at the right time."
The CHS program "adds to the security of our homeland," Jurchenko said. "People who have become certified are already making a difference. Without them, we could not have recovered from hurricanes Rita, Katrina or Ike."
It's just not military personnel who are taking advantage of or benefiting from CHS.
Although most of the students at the seminar were area active-duty military personnel, a handful of civilians who attended the two-day course hailed from states scattered throughout the Southeast.
One of the civilians attending the CHS-IV and CHS-V courses was George Santa Cruz, a retired Coast Guard captain and now a consultant and information systems security specialist from Slidell, La.
"I've been in the CHS program since it came out," Santa Cruz said.
Like so many residents of the Gulf Coast, Santa Cruz was affected not only personally, but professionally by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. He was working on his CHS credentialing when the hurricane interrupted his Homeland Security professional training.
"Hurricane Katrina put a crunch in my ability to travel," Santa Cruz explained. "This was the first opportunity to continue with the certification, since it was within driving distance for me."
Before retiring from the Coast Guard, Santa Cruz said he had worked with computers and computer security while on active duty, then later physical security.
"I did physical security before and then IT (inforamtion technology)security later," he added. "It all fits together. This is great stuff."
One of the course coordinators, Chief Master at Arms (SW/AW) Reginald Jones, NAS Pensacola Security leading chief petty officer said he was a bit surprised by the interest the CHS courses had generated along with the impressive turnout by both military and civilian personnel.
Jones explained that by hosting the CHS courses locally, military personnel who usually don't have the opportunity to travel to obtain advanced training were able to benefit from the home court advantage of having the CHS-IV and CHS-V courses taught at NASP.
"I'm overwhelmed by the turnout," Jones said. "The Sailors get the certification and we get better trained Sailors," Jones said.
"The great turnout shows how eager the Sailors are about professional development and growth," added Master at Arms 1st Class (FMF) Jason Taylor,NAS Pensacola Security leading petty officer.
Navy COOL is part of the enlisted learning and development strategy. It is an umbrella under which are the learning and development programs enlisted Sailors need access to for a successful career.
"It's such a great program," said Chief Master at Arms (SW) Jon Woodworth, NAS Pensacola Security Operations. "You'd be dumb not to use Navy COOL."
The CHS program is part of the Navy's Credentialing Opportunities Online program.
For more information about CHS or Navy COOL, visit https://www.cool.navy.mil/.
To learn more about ABCHS, visit http://chs.acfei.com.
For more news from Center for Information Dominance, visit www.navy.mil/local/corry/.
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