Learning about homeland security has come through on-the-job training for Sheriff Bill Young.
After Sept. 11, 2001, Young learned from late night phone calls and daily threat reports as he led Metro Police's preparation on the Las Vegas Strip during the nation's most recent heightened terror alert over New Year's Eve.
Now Young is making time to take advantage of homeland security experts here in Nevada brought together by the UNLV Institute for Security Studies.
"I don't have a lot of time, but this is a way for me to improve my skills and knowledge in an area that until recently I didn't have a lot of experience with," Young said. "There are a whole preponderance of issues out there from bio-terrorism to nuclear questions that we need to be familiar with."
Young is a member of the pilot class of UNLV's master's degree program in homeland security. While the program was established a year ago to research homeland security and train emergency teams, it remains in the early stages of development, said Lee Van Arsdale, the executive director of the institute.
Van Arsdale, a former Delta Force commander and counterterrorism branch chief for the Secretary of Defense, sees the program as a way to connect the homeland security experts in Nevada to help in training emergency workers managers.
"For whatever reason there seems to be a critical mass of retired FBI, military, and Secret Service people in Las Vegas," said Van Arsdale, who also mentioned the Energy Department's Las Vegas-based Nuclear Emergency Search Team and the National Counterterrorism Range Complex at the Nevada Test Site. "We have these assets avaliable and we need to take full advantage."
The master's program includes six one-week sessions at UNLV, taking place every three months. A seventh week-long session is held in Washington, D.C., and three of the sessions involve practical exercises conducted at the National Counterterrorism Range Complex in cooperation with Bechtel Nevada and the National Nuclear Security Administration.
The pilot-class, which includes about 30 mid-to-upper-level managers from law enforcement agencies, fire departments and local governments, began in November. Students have just completed their third session. There is a $31,596 cost for the course that includes the cost of travel, room, board, tuition, fees and books.
Metro Police Deputy Chief Dennis Cobb is a member of the class, and sees it as a way to bring needed training and expertise to emergency teams.
"It has great potential, but there are still bugs that need to be worked out with how much support the university will give the program," Cobb said. "As the pilot group part of our job is to give feedback about the program.
"I view the class as the first step in bringing all these untapped resources together."
The National Counterterrorism Range Complex, about 85 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is one of nine sites across the country involved in counterterrorism training, said Don Daigler, director of the homeland security and defense division of the National Nuclear Security Administration.
"There are about 9 million first responders in the country, and we haven't really made a dent when it comes to bringing training to them all," Daigler said.
Daigler and Bechtel Safety Manager Stan Holloway said that about 5,000 emergency workersfrom across the country went through training at the test site last year, and more are expected to train there this year.
The UNLV course is designed to bring in higher level officials like Young, for training and planning in managing and preventing emergency events, Van Arsdale said.
The 36 credit-hour class benefits from the unique environments that can be used for training at the Test Site, Daigler said.
"The environment we can create at the test site cannot be created anywhere else in the country," Daigler said. "We can use real radiological and chemical agents instead of pretending during a table top exercise."
Truck and car bombs, bio-terror attacks, hostage situations and other scenarios can be played out at the Test Site using real explosions and chemical agents.
Van Arsdale envisions the UNLV program growing to include a laboratory to develop new products and technology for first responders. Currently the Institute for Security Studies is funded through a $2.5 million federal grant.
"The federal funds are there for a kickstart, but the goal is to be self-sufficient," Van Arsdale said. "We're still at the start-up stage, but that's where we want to go."
Young said he can see another plus if the program continues to grow.
"It absolutely would help us to have another high profile program in the state when it comes to getting federal homeland security dollars," Young said. "It helps the state, it helps UNLV and it will help the community to have a first class operation here providing training that is in high demand across the country."
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