In June 2018, the Joint Forces Staff College/National Defense University hosted a Homeland Security Planners Course at ODU. The 3-day course was held at the ODU Tri-Cities Center and the Virginia Modeling, Analysis, and Simulation Center (VMASC). DaChawn was allowed to participate in the course’s culminating exercise as an observer.  Read on for DaChawn’s reflection of the experience.

-Wie Yusuf

“On June 14 I attended the event at VMASC by the National Defense University. It was an exercise that explored three threat events and how specific organizations would plan for and react to these scenarios. There were all types of government organizations being represented during the exercise. Examples include the FBI and the Coast Guard, just to name a couple. This experience was very interesting as well as enlightening. It was interesting to hear and see first-hand how the specific government organizations participating would react to threats or disasters. Most of the organizations had some of the same solutions to the scenarios. However, there were subtle differences to how these organizations would handle certain situations. An example is how the response times differed for some organizations and how these organizations would handle the media coverage that comes with disaster scenarios. This entire experience will be very beneficial to me. It introduced me to many military organizations and gave me a more detailed view of what I may want my future to look like. This event has ultimately played a part in helping me decide what my next step will be academically.”

-DaChawn Kincaid