Abstract:

The events of September 11th and the following crisis with anthrax are the first overt manifestations of events feared for some time, the use of asymmetric means for terrorism or war fighting. The speaker served as the founding Director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency [DTRA], a combat support agency created by defense reform initiative in 1997 to deal with DoD's responsibilities with regard to these threats, both domestically as terrorism and abroad in combat or support operations. DTRA spent three years preparing for such events by a combination of technology steps and training exercises at the top of the Government. The role of a basic science lab, such as Berkeley Lab, in the context of the policy, technology, and operational issues and options likely to emerge in response to September 11th and its follow-on as well as the role of a basic science lab in the US Government interagency community will be discussed.