HARDENING SOFT TARGETS IN YOUR AOR • HYPERBARIC OXYGEN THERAPY • EMAIL CRIMES FUNDING GLOBAL TERROR
Journal for Law Enforcement, Intelligence & Special Operations Professionals
APRIL/MAY 2017
VOLUME 10 • NUMBER 2
EMAIL CRIMES FUNDING GLOBAL TERROR
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The Journal for Law Enforcement, Intelligence & Special Operations Professionals APRIL/MAY 2017
VOLUME 10 • NUMBER 2
COVER STORY: 16
EMAIL CRIMES FUNDING GLOBAL TERROR by Kent Cartwright
FEATURES:
CONTENTS
16
08
HARDENING SCHOOLS AND OTHER SOFT TARGETS IN A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER’S AOR Part 3: Physical Security by Amery Bernhardt 24
WHY DO AMERICAN COMBAT SOLDIERS SUFFER FROM PTSD MORE THAN THEIR COUNTERPARTS? by Forest Rain
32
HYPERBARIC OXYGEN THERAPY Helping those with the invisible wounds of war by Anthony E. Jones, Major U.S. Air Force, ret.
8
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24
06
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Counter The
FROM THE EDITOR:
Animal Instincts
by Garret Machine
Journal for Law Enforcement, Intelligence & Special Operations Professionals
VOLUME 10 • NUMBER 2
I
n a stressful situation, we all revert back to our instinct, animal instinct. As sophisticated and evolved animals, we have the ability to reason with one another and not resort to force. When animals want another animal to do something or not do something, they resort to force. Both people and animals have the force option, only people sometimes take a little longer to get there. Even nations reserve a force option for dealing with states and nonstate actors. It is interesting that we can break down almost all human interactions, whether group or individual, into two categories: those that use force and those that do not. That’s it, only two. In Western society, we are used to interacting with others through persuasion and coercion. While force is an option for some, all are subject to force as a means of compliance. As a wise strategist once said: “If you want peace, prepare for war.” In this context, the preparation is the deterrence. Mass is a deterrent. A big black German Shepard is a deterrent. And for some a personal firearm is a deterrent, an equalizer. Having a means of defense or offense protects you from unwanted force and intimidation. There will always be those who are antisocial and attempt force as a first option. For example, the elderly and feeble will fall victim to the young and agile, the petite female to the heavy male and the few to the many. However, a means of defense and threat of greater force will persuade a would-be adversary to pick an easier target or limit the interaction. Switzerland is an armed society, a wealthy, civilized Western nation with very low levels of violent crime when compared to the U.S. But why? Because the “bad guy” no longer has the monopoly on the force option. A force encounter is likely to be met with even greater force. Mutual destruction is not an attractive option. The solution to violence is overwhelming violence or threat thereof. With this logic in mind, one would be wise to carry a tool that can keep things dignified and civil even when one party is threatening force over a weaker party. Human interaction would change and become more civilized with every party knowing that they are limited to negotiation and persuasion.
Garret Machine Editor, The Counter Terrorist
APRIL/MAY 2017
Editor Garret Machine Director of Operations Carmen Arnaes Director of Advertizing Sol Bradman Administrative Jennifer Junatas Contributing Editors Amery Bernhardt Kent Cartwright Anthony E. Jones, Major U.S. Air Force, ret Forest Rain ASIA PACIFIC EDITION Director of Operation Yaniv Peretz Graphic Design Morrison Creative Company Copy Editor Laura Town Advertising Sales Maria Efremova Maria@loringlobal.com +65 90266571 Publisher: Security Solutions International 13155 SW 134th St. • STE 103 Miami, Florida 33186 ISSN 1941-8639 The Counter Terrorist Magazine, Journal for Law Enforcement, Intelligence & Special Operations Professionals is published by Security Solutions International LLC, as a service to the nation’s First Responders and Homeland Security Professionals with the aim of deepening understanding of issues related to Terrorism. No part of the publication can be reproduced without permission from the publisher. The opinions expressed herein are the opinions of the authors represented and not necessarily the opinions of the publisher. Please direct all Editorial correspondence related to the magazine to: Security Solutions International SSI, 13155 SW 134th Street, Suite 103, Miami, Florida. 33186 or info@thecounterterroristmag. com The subscription price for 6 eZine issues of the magazine is $19.99. (1-866-573-3999) Fax: 1-786-573-2090. For article reprints, e-prints, posters and plaques please contact: Security Solutions International at villegas@homelandsecurityssi.com or call 786-573-3999 Please visit the magazine web site where you can also contact the editorial staff:
www.thecounterterrroristmag.com © 2017 Security Solutions International
6 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2017
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HARDENING SCHOOLS AND OTHER SOFT TARGETS IN A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER’S AOR PART 3 PART 3: PHYSICAL SECURITY Editor’s Note: This article discusses the third and final part in how to harden schools and other soft targets in your AOR. The hardening of the physical security is no less important than Part 1 or Part 2, which covered preparing the faculty for an active shooter event and addressing the inside threat through a threat assessment team (Bernhardt 2016). While this is just as important, it may be the most costly. Training and coordinating existing resources is very cost effective and provides a great starting point in times of restrictive budgets. Regardless of cost, this topic must be addressed by the schools.
8 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2017
by Amery Bernhardt
I have heard the following question posed to me: When was the last time a child was killed in a school fire? This is usually followed by silence, because it is not a common occurrence. From 2007-2011, in schools ranging from preschoolers to twelfth grade there were over 4,000 structure fires but zero deaths (Campbell 2013). Now, that response should be the same for an active shooter.
T
hroughout our nation, about 24% of the active shooter incidents occur in schools (NYPD Printing Section 2012). Students should be just as safe from an active shooter as they are from a school
fire. Safety from fire did not occur overnight. There was an enormous amount of energy invested in our schools to make them as safe as they are today. The level of school safety has not been as successful when it comes
to violence. From the year 2000 to 2013, there have been 27 incidents that resulted in the loss of 57 lives and the wounding of 60 individuals (Blair and Schweit 2014). A study conducted to review fire safety and
Officer Jason Frederickson, a civilian police officer with the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Provost Marshal’s Office, provides rear security while a fellow officer clears a room during training to aid readiness in the event of an active shooter. Photo: Lance Cpl. Owen Kimbrel The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2017 9
A middle school entrance. Photo: Analogue Kid at en.wikipedia
other safety measures found that fire safety was consistent in schools ranging across geographic areas, but there were significant differences in other safety measures (Shelton, Owens, and Song 2009). A standard such as the fire code, which has become so well established, is also needed for active shooter school safety (Raghunathan, Massello, Zalis, and Aldape 2015). Law enforcement should be there to provide the guidance that our nation’s schools need. Active shooter school safety should start with a plan to harden the exterior of the school. Then it should focus on a single entrance point with a mantrap. Finally, it should conclude with recommendations on easily locked classroom doors. If there were any facility vulnerabilities identified during the training exercises as outlined in Part 1, then this would provide the prime opportunity to address them as well. 10 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2017
HARDEN THE EXTERIOR OF THE SCHOOL BUILDING One of the first ways to protect a school from violence is to prevent an attacker from gaining access to the school. Often called target hardening, making improvements on a building physically provides an important layer of defense (International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety [IAHSS] 2012). By keeping an attacker outside of the school, the students and faculty inside will be much safer. One of the recommendations from the New York City Police Department involves conducting a realistic threat assessment to determine vulnerabilities (NYPD Printing Section 2012). This type of assessment includes evaluating how easily an attacker can gain access to the facility. One of the lessons
learned from the Sandy Hook atrocity was how easily and quickly the killer gained access to the school. The glass in front of the school was shot and the attacker made entry seconds later. While keeping the exterior doors locked is the first step in building security, they should not be easily defeated. The glass doors should be made of burglarproof tempered glass (New York State Education Department 2013). There are different types of door construction that use varying amounts of glass. There are simple steps that can be taken to retrofit glass with a laminate that will obstruct or delay an intruder’s access into the building (D. Grossman, personal communication 2015). While this type of glass is not bulletproof, it can provide a significant delay to the access of the school. This delay can provide the police more to time to respond to confront the attacker, and more time
to the faculty and students inside the school to prepare themselves. Besides the front doors, if there is any other area on the outside of the school to which an intruder has easy access and to which they can gain access by breaking a window, then that glass needs to be fortified to prevent easy access. One of the most effective ways to identify vulnerabilities is through discussions with the faculty and maintenance personnel. This information may have come to light while exercising different active shooter scenarios, as described in Part 1. The personnel who spend countless hours at the building often have intimate knowledge of it and will be able to provide valuable information on vulnerable points or potential areas of concern.
SINGLE ENTRANCE POINT Another recommendation is controlling access to the building. Access can be controlled by funneling all of the visitors to one location, where they can be vetted and then granted access. Visitors should not be permitted
The Sandy Hook Elementary School makeshift memorial on Washington Avenue in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, 12 days after the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Photo: Bbjeter
access to any other doors of the facility. All of the doors should be locked and the visitor should be directed to one main access point (New York State Education Department 2013). The use of signs on all of the doors can
direct visitors towards the main doors, explaining that the main doors of the school are the only public access point. This entrance should be monitored by school staff (New York State Education Department 2013).
The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2017 11
ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - Minnesota National Guard Soldiers participate in an active shooter exercise with the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office and nearly a dozen other law enforcement, fire and emergency medical organization. National Guard photo by Sgt. 1st Class Ben Houtkooper.
THE MANTRAP This entrance can be further secured by the use of a mantrap system. This can be done with a locked exterior door, a booth area for vetting, and a locked interior access door. (IAHSS 2012) The concept is as follows: A visitor approaches the school to gain access and s/he is directed by signs
12 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2017
to the main entrance. At the exterior door to the main entrance the visitor can press an intercom to request access to the school and state his/her reason for the visit. The school faculty can then visually inspect the visitor via camera or through the glass and can then unlock the exterior door. Once the visitor enters through the exterior
door, s/he is not in the school yet. S/he is in the mantrap area, where s/he will be required to present identification and be further vetted by faculty. Faculty should not be in the vestibule or mantrap area with the visitor, but instead should be communicating with him/her through glass or a small window. Once the faculty has
Members of a Special Response Team review entrances to a building during a training exercise at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C. Photo: Mauricio Campino successfully vetted him/her, then the visitor is permitted to have access to the building and the interior door is unlocked. If there is any glass inside the mantrap area, it should also be burglar-proof tempered glass or be laminated to prevent it from being easily circumvented. This mantrap allows the school to deny access to a potential intruder with the entrance
layout providing the needed physical structural support.
THE CLASSROOM DOORS In the Virginia Tech attack, the unlocked classroom doors were the only things that stood between the attacker and the students. There were failed attempts and successful attempts
to hold the doors shut and prevent access to the killer. The research data from the Virginia Tech case study revealed that those individuals who took defensive action and were able to keep the doors closed and deny access to the shooter survived (Blair, Nichols, Burns, and Curnutt 2013). The classroom door may be that critical line of defense against an active
The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2017 13
President George W. Bush visits a memorial for the victims as the President and Mrs. Laura Bush stop to pay their respects at a campus memorial in Blacksburg, Virgina, 2007, honoring the shooting victims at Virginia Tech. White House photo by Eric Draper shooter. There are different types of classroom doors that use varying amounts of glass in them. Just like exterior doors, there are simple steps that can be taken to retrofit glass with a laminate that will obstruct or delay an intruder’s access into the room. These doors when locked should not be easily circumvented. The locks on these doors should be easy to engage. There was an active shooter simulation conducted by the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Organization designed specifically to test locking doors under duress. There was a significant difference in the results depending on the whether the
14 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2017
teacher had to engage a simple thumb lock or had to use keys to lock the door. The experiment revealed that in the instances where the teacher used a thumb lock, there was an average of 1.6 injuries and 1.4 fatalities. In the instances where the teacher used a key lock, there was an average of 3.8 injuries and 2.4 fatalities (Kringen, Blair, and Martaindale 2015). The door may be one of the last lines of defense for a teacher with his/her students and it should be easy to lock and extremely difficult to get through. Law enforcement has been entrusted with the opportunity to bring to light vulnerabilities and provide recommendations on ways to mitigate them. While teachers and other faculty
may have intimate knowledge of these vulnerabilities, sometimes it is advantageous for everyone to learn about them when the teaching comes from professionals whose job it is to protect the community from violence. Just as fire safety has become so well established in schools, it is time that law enforcement impart its passion for safety from violence into the schools. We share an ultimate responsibility with educators throughout the nation to help keep our children safe. When it comes to schools, security should incorporate a hardened exterior, a single entrance point with a mantrap, and easy-to-lock secure classroom doors.
REFERENCES Bernhardt, A. 2016. “How Can Law Enforcement Harden Schools And Other Soft Targets In Their AOR: Preparing The School Faculty For An Active Shooter Event.” The Counter Terrorist, 9(4), 44-49. Bernhardt, A. 2016. “Harden Schools and Other Soft Targets in Their AOR: Part 2. The Threat From Within.” The Counter Terrorist, 9(5), 48-54. Blair, J. P., Nichols, T., Burns, D., and Curnutt, J. R. 2013. Active Shooter Events and Response. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group. Blair, J. P., and Schweit, K. W. 2014. A Study of Active Shooter Incidents, 2000-2013. (Texas State University and Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Justice). Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. Campbell, R. 2013. Structure Fires in Educational Properties. http://www. nfpa.org/research/reports-and-statistics/ fires-by-property-type/educational/ structure-fires-in-educational-properties “International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety.” 2012. In Security Design Guidelines for Healthcare Facilities, edited by D. MacAlister, K. M. Tuohey, and T. York. Glendale Heights, IL: International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety. Kringen, J. A., Blair, P., and Martaindale, H. 2015. Agent-based simulations as pseudo-experiments on active shooter response protocols. University of New Haven: Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Organization. New York State Education Department. 2013. New York State School Safety Guide. In New York State School Safety Guide (Revised
2013). New York: New York State Education Department, New York State Police, New York State Office of Homeland Security, New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, and New York State Office of Emergency Management. NYPD Printing Section. (2012). Active Shooter Recommendations and Analysis for Risk Mitigation (2012 Edition). http://www.nyc.gov/html/ nypd/downloads/pdf/counterterrorism/ ActiveShooter2012Edition.pdf Raghunathan, A., Massello, R., Zalis, W., and Aldape, L. 2015. Workshop on School Safety, Codes and Security. http://www.nfpa.org/ Shelton, A. J., Owens, E. W., and Song, H. 2009. “An Examination of Public School Safety Measures Across Geographic Settings.” Journal of School Health, 79(1). http://www.ncbi. nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19149782
Law enforcement has been entrusted with the opportunity to bring to light vulnerabilities and provide recommendations on ways to mitigate them.
•
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Amery Bernhardt is a Sergeant with the Westchester County Department of Public Safety in New York. He has 15 years of law enforcement experience. He is currently assigned to Patrol Operations, and his responsibilities include coordinating the department’s School Resource Officer program. Sergeant Bernhardt is certified as an instructor for law enforcement and civilian active shooter response through the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training program. He has conducted training and numerous exercises with schools and law enforcement agencies throughout Westchester County.
The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2017 15
EMAIL CRIMES FUNDING GLOBAL TERROR
16 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2017
by Kent Cartwright
“It’s Not Just Who Emails Are From, It’s Where.” CYBER CRIME REACHES JANET AT WORK
I
t’s 8:35 am on a Tuesday morning, and Janet has arrived at her work desk, as she has for the past twelve years. Janet is a hard worker, and has a great work ethic. She is the glue that holds the office together when the company is busy. Janet has opened her email and sees and email from her boss, the owner of the company. The email reads: Good morning Janet, One of our vendors (ACME steel) will be contacting you this morning about our recent purchase of wall materials being put into the warehouse by David and his team.
Please go ahead and use my card to pay the $4,450 fee and I will resolve it once I get to the office about 11am. Let me know if you have any questions. Bill Cramer CEO-Founder Approximately 15 minutes later, Janet’s phone rings and it’s Cynthia from ACME steel, who promptly takes the payment and thanks Janet for handling this issue first thing in the morning. In this example, Janet has just paid over $4,000 to someone who will eventually fund a firearm purchase in Syria. Janet, the prompt and
The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2017 17
Once the server has been selected and compromised by the cyber criminals, it becomes a race against the clock to use the server (or other host) before the owner has detected the criminal’s presence. hardworking employee, never really received an email from the owner of the company, or a company called ACME steel. The email and the phone call were from one of the thousands of centralized centers sponsoring this kind of criminal activity. In fact, annual revenue to these online virtual crime centers exceeds $2.5 billion dollars a year. These cyber criminals gain a new victim every 82 seconds on average, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
CYBER CRIMINALS QUICKLY INVEST THEIR FREE MONEY So, where does all that free money go? Some of it goes to general travel, creating fake passports, housing, and even gambling ventures. After all, if they win at gambling, they get more money. If they lose, they just go scam more money from people with malware and ransomware. Or, maybe just another boss scam email campaign like the one experienced by Janet in the first example. Due to fast turnaround and the use of existing infrastructure to hold cash, the drug trade most directly connects the scammed dollars to the people who
18 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2017
fund and support terror organizations. The money collected by ransomware and other socially-engineered crimes primarily goes to the raw materials and labor used for the illegal drug production, while hundreds of millions of dollars go to complex transactions like the resale of military equipment, or something as simple as the daily living expenses of a criminal network. Every step taken to reduce this revenue stream is a step toward the reduction of global terror networks and the cyber criminal networks that support them.
UNDERSTANDING AN EMAIL’S ORIGIN Before we look at correlating email crime revenue to the funding of terror organizations, we need to review some less obvious things about email crimes. Most email crimes don’t occur from someone’s home PC, but they do come from somewhere. The email criminal is looking for a weakly protected server at a web site provider, or perhaps a desktop PC owned by a student in India. These cyber criminals may also look for a computer host that has the operating system they are best at penetrating (i.e. Windows, Linux). They are always looking for computer operating systems that haven’t been patched for vulnerabilities in a long time. Many of these criminals will use emails to deliver malware via links in the email, or use attachments like documents or computer “helper” programs that aren’t what they seem. The cyber criminals themselves aren’t typically computer security experts, because they don’t have to be. Criminals simply use stolen money to purchase vulnerable information found by the people who are computer experts. All the criminal really needs
is a set of instructions and a bunch of unsuspecting email addresses to begin their rampage on their victim’s bank accounts. Once the server has been selected and compromised by the cyber criminals, it becomes a race against the clock to use the server (or other host) before the owner has detected the criminal’s presence. Within minutes, the hijacked server (or other computer system) has sent millions of scam emails that are directing cash from their victims directly to accounts that are untraceable, or in the form of non-standard revenue like bitcoin. Many of the people perpetrating these crimes don’t even return the computer back to the victim after the ransom is paid. Ironically, this is because it would cost the criminals more to build a program that returns the computer to its original state. The email criminal by may be in Miami, Florida, but the unpatched server that sent the email crimes may be in a university computer lab in Germany that hasn’t had an IT team in five years due to lost funding. In our earlier email fraud example, Janet’s email from her boss in Tempe, Arizona came from a hijacked PC in Vietnam. If only Janet could have known that before receiving the call for a terror-funding money transfer.
A GEOLOCATION PERSPECTIVE OF EMAIL CRIME COMES INTO VIEW Email security is an investment, like any security technology strategy. The more you invest in protecting yourself or your customers from cyber crimes, the less crime will typically occur, even though no strategy is 100% effective. Cyber criminals who generate revenue
A data center with a lack of security investment is a breeding ground for the email cyber crime used to fund terror activities. Security investment takes a geo-perspective, as shown in red sections of the map where phishing and malware concentrations exist. from email campaigns aren’t looking for the ultimate hack to show their skills. They’re looking for the easiest path to revenue. As you would see in a side road motel, where the front desk attendant is asleep and the locks are old, criminals will check in and set up shop, always making sure not to close the motel, or remind the hotel owner that they are there. Security investment in email infrastructure can generally be classified by the wealth of the country (or other entity) the computer host resides in. Weak government laws and little enforcement, a lack of funding for security staff, a lack of controls around patching, not enforcing password expirations, and a loss of other security best practices has pushed criminals literally into specific corners of the world. These computer systems, even if the criminal themselves are not, are generally located in the same regions we see reported as terror-sponsoring/
sponsored states.
U.S. EFFORTS CAUSING GEOLOCATED CYBER CRIME The U.S. Congress has taken some serious steps toward protecting companies, government networks, and U.S. citizens from cyber crime. The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee met in January of 2017 to review the impact of email compromise for every aspect of life in the U.S., including the potential impact on a presidential election, but ultimately resolved to the American public that they need to protect themselves and stop looking to the government for answers to computer cyber crimes, 85% of which occur over email. But the U.S. government’s efforts are better than most, and the best security innovation and investment in the world take place in the U.S., so U.S. companies are just too difficult to compromise for email campaigns,
as compared to their international counterparts. These U.S. entities are instead targets of the crimes, instead of systems that deliver them.
CLOUD EXPANSION CAUSING GEOLOCATED CYBER CRIME As cloud providers have taken on the responsibility of email security, they also balance the open nature of email communications. After all, many of their customers will have entities in other countries that send and receive legitimate emails to them. Thus, the geolocation door is left open and instead extreme efforts are taken for user authentication (password) protection and watching for anomalies in network traffic, as in the case of government and corporate entities scrambling email content. The cloud-based email platforms have continued to push crime and activity that supports terror efforts into
The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2017 19
less capable network environments. Committing bulk email crimes in cloud environments turns up as abnormal activity, while a simple customer complaint about an email scam can give cloud providers all they need to trace the
20 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2017
email sender down to their IP address and block it while pursuing charges where they can. This is not the world a cyber criminal supporting terrorist activities wants to operate in. Many cloud providers will have U.S.-based data center resources and email server resources offshore. Their email traffic is designed to stay within the country of origin to improve performance and
reduce costs, unless it is to be sent to someone in another country. This strict cloud traffic behavior makes geolocating emails even more revealing, even when both the sender and recipient are part of the same global cloud provider.
BANKING RULES CAUSING GEOLOCATED CYBER CRIME Continued email fraud geolocationrestriction comes into play when the cyber criminals want to collect money from their victims, or transfer it to terror organizations. Banking systems in the U.S. and many developed
countries have become very sensitive to money movement to identify, stop, and prosecute banking fraud used by the criminals who are sending phishing, malware, and ransomware emails. This intensification of money monitoring has further forced the criminal activity into less-managed global locations, the same locations reported by the U.S. government as terror-prone, having restricted travel for safety, or other global warning messages.
It isn’t that all malicious emails come from nonU.S. sites, but most email crimes do.
THE GEOLOCATION OF EMAILS Not who the email came from, where the email came from. With all that we have discussed in this article, it becomes clear that most email crimes come from certain places due to the same circumstances that cause all global crimes to occur. Current security efforts, in critical and well-funded email environments, are working to make sure the sender is verified at a high level, and checking if emails contain web links that are known dangers, and some even encrypting the email to scramble its contents, ensuring the email recipient is the only one that can read it. But, it has become the physical global origin of an email that can provide the most understanding into an email’s intentions, and it needs to be done at a desktop email client to provide the last line of defense against email compromise. It isn’t that all malicious emails come from non-U.S. sites, but most email crimes do. Another major factor in the physical locations of hosts that get away with cyber crimes is the white list/ blacklist approach to threat prevention. When a server in the U.S. begins to
Above: Goldeneye Ransomware. Personal decryption code. Photo: BlueBreezeWiki. Top: Frame of an animation by the Federal Trade Commission intended to educate citizens about phishing tactics. propagate email crimes, it is found, plugged, and reported. That server host becomes part of a blacklist, until it is verified to be on track for security again. In less secure countries, this process is rarely followed, or not in place at all. For non-U.S. servers, it is typically a U.S.-based entity that identifies, plugs, and reports that email source to protect U.S. assets.
LOCATING THE EMAIL SENDER FROM THEIR EMAIL LOCATION As we have seen, crimes that use bulk email delivery prefer systems that will allow massive computing power with little notice of their activities, and rarely does the email sender reside in the same location as the systems they use for these purposes.
The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2017 21
A DCIS special agent investigates cyber crime within the DOD. Photo: Jplozai
But, terror-related activity can (and does) sometimes occur directly from the computer system the criminal is using. Examples of this could be bomb threats to educational institutions, direct threats to someone’s general safety, or the phishing of information for stalking a victim’s residence or work place. In these cases, knowing the origin of an email can lead investigators almost directly to the person sending it. In cases of first responders using emails from runaways to their parents, emails received from suicide threats who won’t disclose their locations, or emails received requesting assistance where no phone is located and their location is unknown, having the ability to determine “email
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origin” can be the difference in minutes between life and death.
CONCLUSION As we build an awareness of an email’s geographic origins, we begin to build a “trust wall” between the end users and the criminals plotting to lock their computers, steal their passwords, or just gather intelligence for other crimes. Email security teams everywhere need to provide an understanding of an email’s literal geographical origin as it arrives in user mailboxes (after cloud email processing), and the best place to do that is at the desktop email client where security decisions are made in real-time as people work, play, and communicate every day.
Knowing where an email came from, as much as who it came from, can reveal an email’s intentions and provide that one last piece of awareness to stop, glance, geolocate, resolve, before acting on an email’s content.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kent Cartwright- CTO & CoFounder at eMailGPS With over 27 years in business technology experience, Mr. Cartwright has provided business service monitoring strategies, professional services, support, and alignment of people, process, and technology for some of the largest network enterprises in the world.
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WHY DO AMERICAN COMBAT SOLDIERS SUFFER FROM PTSD MORE THAN THEIR COUNTERPARTS? by Forest Rain
Many Marines return to the states with vivid memories of their combat experiences, and the array of emotions they face internally may be hard to detect. While changes in behavior are more obvious, symptoms can also manifest in physical form. Photo: U.S. Marines from Arlington, VA.
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PTSD in Israel’s Defense Forces Are Among the Lowest in Militaries Worldwide.
I
n 2013, the Israel Defense Forces Medical Corps Mental Health Department released a study on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). According to the study, reported cases of post-traumatic stress disorder among Israeli soldiers are among the lowest in militaries worldwide. For example, following the 2006 Second Lebanon War, 1.5% of Israeli soldiers in mandatory service and in the reserves were diagnosed with PTSD. Some 2.9% of the servicemen who took
part in the military campaign sought psychological help after the war, but were not diagnosed as suffering from PTSD. In contrast, a U.S. Army Medical Corps study done in approximately the same time period found that about 8% of U.S. soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan had been diagnosed as suffering from PTSD. According to the IDF study, PTSD diagnoses in other militaries worldwide ranged from 2% to 17% of troops who participated in combat.
A casual observation of the prevalence of U.S. veteran addiction, homelessness and suicide indicates a severe problem, especially when it is understood that often these issues are connected with PTSD and it is further understood that the statistics are not the same everywhere. In other words: it doesn’t have to be this way. It becomes all the more imperative to understand what makes IDF soldiers different. Today, with the rise in terrorism worldwide, there is added impetus to
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understand PTSD. While one might be more likely to discover PTSD in soldiers, security forces or rescue workers, anyone who has been exposed to highly traumatic situations (such as a terror attack) could also be afflicted with PTSD. Just ask the people who worked next to the Twin Towers, the children of Beslan, the Bastille Day revelers in Nice, or any Israeli citizen.
WHAT IS PTSD? Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is a term that many have heard and few seem to truly understand. Historically, a percentage of soldiers who went to war developed oddseeming behaviors that were not initially understood by those who remained behind. Some WWI soldiers experienced panic, terror, or flight, an inability to reason, sleep, walk or talk and were diagnosed with “shell shock.” In WWII, similar symptoms were called “combat stress reaction.” Soldiers of the Vietnam War were said to have “post traumatic stress disorder.” What all the soldiers had in common was that, contrary to apparent logic, removal from the field of combat did not relieve the symptoms. Movies about the experiences of soldiers during and after the Vietnam War brought PTSD to public awareness but did little to create understanding or educate people in how to cope with the disorder. One of the major challenges in understanding PTSD is the fact that most soldiers do not develop the disorder. Since soldiers who have seen combat have similar experiences, and most can readapt to civilian life relatively smoothly, many assumed that the small percentage that were unable to do so were flawed in some way and even
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An Israeli soldier with PTSD, who also suffers from a split personality. Photo: Shiran Golan Pikiwiki, Israel
How can you heal damage to your soul (or emotions) by fixing a flaw in your physiology? This would be like trying to fill your car’s empty gas tank by changing a tire. attributed their symptoms to cowardice. Reading American literature on PTSD shines light on why so many people find the condition confusing. The research is varied and results are often conflicting. Much of the material consists of long lists of possible symptoms and hypotheses regarding what types of physical/ biological conditions might lead to a predisposition towards the disorder. The material raises more questions than it answers. Most significantly: why are only some of the people exposed to trauma afflicted? It seems that much of the research was done with the goal of finding medication that could solve the problem. This suggests a number of assumptions: a) There is something psychologically flawed in the person suffering from PTSD. b) The problem is caused by or has created a chemical imbalance that can be controlled by external methods (drugs) to solve or at least control the situation. c) There is a potential for profit: purchase the right solution and the patient can be cured. To contrast, this explanation is from Israel’s National Trauma Center for Victims of Terrorism and War: When exposed to a traumatic event, the emotional/psychological system is flooded with more stimuli than it can contain and process. The stimuli remain in the system, in their raw, unprocessed state and occasionally return, forcing their way in to the person’s awareness in their original
form. As a result, the sufferer re-experiences the traumatic situation, as a physical or emotional experience, exactly as if it were occurring all over again. Images, memories, noises and odors that were part of the original traumatic experience return, in an overwhelming manner that feels like an assault. Since this intrusive, uncontrollable experience is in and of itself traumatic, victims make an effort to avoid anything that might remind them of the traumatic event, creating a cycle of the intrusion and avoidance. This cycle is the heart of PostTraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It is interesting to note that the word used in the Hebrew text that was translated as “the emotional/psychological system” actually means the system of the “soul.” In Israel, health-related issues are divided into those relating to the physical body and those relating to the soul. Those who desire to do so can interpret the term “soul” as an emotional system or as a psychological system, but no matter how this is interpreted, it is understood that there are issues that are physical and issues that are intangible, i.e. of the soul. Language can dictate the way we think of things and often change outcomes. It is not a matter of simple terminology; this is a fundamental difference in medical approach that influences both understanding and treatment. How can you heal damage to your soul (or emotions) by fixing a flaw in your physiology? This would be like trying to fill your car’s empty gas tank by changing a tire.
THE SYMPTOMS OF POST TRAUMA ARE A NORMAL REACTION TO AN UNNATURAL SITUATION It is important to understand that PTSD does not indicate weakness, a flaw in character, moral fiber or temperament. The symptoms of PTSD are emotional and physical sensations that then become exacerbated due to behaviors that are the result of the intrusion–avoidance cycle.
Intrusion Comprehending the burden of intrusive traumatic events is difficult for anyone who has not had the experience. Probably most people would picture the types of flashback scenes they saw in movies: the soldier, back in civilian life, hears a loud noise, a car back-firing or a door slam, and suddenly has a flashback to being shot at on the battlefield or having bombs exploding next to him. While cinematographic constructs of flashbacks are dramatic, they are actually poor explanations of what is being experienced. The intrusive memory is not a flash-back but more like a flash-now. Something in the present triggers the memory of the experience of the event with all of its physical and emotional sensations. The person is not transported back to their memory, rather the event is recreated and relived in the present.
“Burning chicken smells exactly the same as soldiers
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Pfc. Ben Bradley (left), a Bulldog Troop, Red Platoon scout from the 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, ducks away from insurgent machine gun fire, as fellow scout Sgt. Jeff Sheppard, launches a M-203 grenade at the enemy’s position, during a combat engagement in northern Bala Murghab Valley, Badghis province, Afghanistan April, 2011. Bradley, Sheppard, Air Force Tech. Sgt. Kevin Wallace, Navy Petty Officer 2rd Class Ryan Lee and his military working dog “Valdo” were wounded by a rocket propelled grenade blast in the engagement. Photo: Master Sgt. Kevin Wallace
burning in a tank.” One day I was cooking chicken. Distracted, I accidently let it burn. My husband had an extreme, disproportionate reaction I found utterly incomprehensible. I thought to myself, “Why is he so upset? Only part of it burned, it isn’t ruined, and anyway, it’s just food…” Seeing I didn’t understand, he took a breath and told me: “Burning chicken smells exactly the same as soldiers burning in a tank.” He walked out of the room and I didn’t ask any more questions. I have made sure to never let chicken burn since. Imagine being in your living room, waiting for dinner to be ready. Nothing can be more banal. Suddenly a smell triggers the memory of soldiers being burned alive in a tank. Many soldiers have had this experience and can recall
the smell. Only some of these soldiers have PTSD that manifests in intrusive memories of the event. What’s the difference?
Standard memory: The person will recognize that the smell they smell today is like what they smelled as a soldier, on the battlefield. This may bring up other upsetting details of the event and yet the person remains in control of their memory. They are in the here and now and are recalling something that happened in the past. They are looking at their memory, not reliving it.
PTSD intrusive memory: The smell triggers the memory and suddenly the burning tank is in the living room, the feelings of that event washing over the person in an uncontrollable manner.
He isn’t recalling the event; he is reexperiencing it now, in the present. Intrusive symptoms can include an all-sensory or partial sensory reexperience of the traumatic event. Often senses that one is not entirely aware of at the time take on a powerful role in the sensememory (such as smell or sound). The sense of danger that overwhelmed the person at the time overwhelms them again. They might feel panic, an urge to flee, and maybe a feeling of fury at themselves or others. These uncontrollable feelings are upsetting. Not knowing what might trigger them causes an underlying constant stress, making it hard to concentrate and function normally. Fear of the experiences resurfacing in dreams or nightmares can cause insomnia, which can then lead to physical health issues.
JBLM leaders discuss Army’s new direction for PTSD evaluations. 28 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2017
Often, the victim does not understand what is happening, which in turn increases the feeling of helplessness and intensifies the suffering.
Avoidance The intrusive traumatic memories are so unpleasant that the person suffering from them instinctively takes steps to avoid them. This can manifest in a wide variety of ways including: • Efforts not to think, feel or talk about the traumatic event. • Avoiding places, activities, and people who might trigger memories of the traumatic event. • Memory suppression of the event, which leads to difficulty remembering
details of the experience even when this is desired. (This can be an issue with victims of a violent crime who need to testify in a courtroom.) I once heard a U.S. Marine who fought in the Battle of Fallujah explain that he felt “quenched” like a steel sword that had been heated up and cooled down in order to be forged into the sharp Marine he was trained to be. He felt that this had turned off his emotions, making their expression next to impossible. This is an interesting description, particularly as this soldier also suffered from PTSD and it is actually the fear of reliving the traumatic experience that causes many people experiencing the disorder to shut down their emotions. Knowing that
the traumatic experience can suddenly resurface but not knowing when this might happen causes extreme stress (hyperarousal). This leads many people to become irritable, impatient, defensive, and prone to angry outbursts. Others begin to avoid all emotions. These people find it difficult to feel warm emotions, even toward those they love, and they begin to find it impossible to enjoy activities that previously brought them joy (a strong emotion). Avoidance may serve the victim well in the short run, creating the illusion of control over the problem, but in the long run avoidance becomes a fixation and significantly damages the quality of life. Over time, continuous use of
Sgt. Shane P. Santelli, therapeutically paints through his PTSD healing process. He donates 70 percent of the proceeds from the sale of his paintings to military friendly organizations. Photo: Lance Cpl. Andrea Cleopatra Dickerson
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avoidance as a coping mechanism can actually exacerbate the problem. The desire to avoid in itself is evidence that the intrusive element of the trauma is still present and will, sooner or later, return in the form of intrusive symptoms.
WHO IS SUSCEPTIBLE TO PTSD? My experience with people traumatized by war and terrorism has revealed a pattern indicating who is susceptible to PTSD. Although much stigma has been attached to PTSD, it is important to note that it has nothing to do with cowardice or any type of flaw in personality. In fact, the opposite is true. The people who are more susceptible to PTSD are the ones who are more sensitive, the people who are capable of imagining: “What if?” These are the people who imagine, “What if I had been the one who was shot?” They wonder to themselves why it wasn’t them. Very often these are the most heroic people. They are the soldiers who, with their ingenuity and courage, in addition to saving themselves, succeed in pulling two friends out of a burning tank and later berate themselves for being unable to save the third soldier who remained behind. They are the ones who hold themselves up to impossible standards, who have the highest levels of compassion and are willing to sacrifice the most for others. These people are not less courageous; they are more courageous. The intrusive traumatic memories they experience often lead them to think poorly of themselves,
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be angry at themselves for being fearful. But true courage is not lack of fear. It is the ability to feel fear and do what is necessary despite the fear. People suffering from PTSD die a thousand deaths, experience a thousand traumas. Being able to endure this and continue to do other activities is nothing short of astounding.
WHY DO ISRAELI SOLDIERS SUFFER LESS? Israeli soldiers aren’t different. It is Israel itself that is different.
Virtually every person does reserve duty and/or has colleagues who take leave from work to go to reserve duty. Israelis pass soldiers on the bus, in the train and in the store. Even those portions of society that do not enlist (such as Orthodox Jews) have seen soldiers and had interactions with soldiers. This means that many Israelis who have not themselves been on a battlefield have secondary experience with those who have. They have dealt with injuries and deaths of friends and family, brothers, and sisters. The prevalence of terrorism means that there is little separation between the soldier on the battlefield and the mother in her home, the child walking to school, or the father driving to work. Many Israeli civilians have found themselves under attack by terrorists with rocks, knives, guns, and suicide bombs. Others have witnessed attacks or seen their aftermath. Others are related or connected with those who have been in these situations. The average Israeli knows or can imagine what a soldier or a victim of terrorism has experienced. Personal experience creates understanding and compassion for the pain of others.
History Experience Unlike in other first world democracies, there is no person in Israel who is untouched by terrorism or war; soldiers are an integral part of Israeli society. The IDF is a citizens’ army, consisting of our fathers, brothers, husbands, friends, sisters, and daughters. Almost every household has a soldier, if not a number of soldiers, many of whom have fought in multiple wars. Those who don’t have a soldier in their own family live next to a household with a soldier.
Israel’s current generation of forty- to sixty-year-olds grew up with Holocaust survivors. They didn’t understand the survivors or their sometimes-strange behaviors. Some survivors picked up half-eaten sandwiches that other people had thrown away and put them in their pockets, just in case. Others were terrified of dogs. Some clung to their children. Others almost never touched their children. Some were perfectly normal in the day but screamed in their sleep. It took many years for people
to understand that these behaviors developed as a result of the extreme trauma the survivors had experienced. Later on, it was discovered that trauma could be passed on, that the second generation, the children of the survivors, had developed their own form of traumarelated behaviors. The average Israeli knows that terrible experiences alter the psyche and affect behavior.
Attitude “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Israelis have developed an attitude of “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Although this expression is often said jokingly, regarding small uncomfortable situations like going to the dentist or telling a child to do something they don’t like, it is indicative of a societal mindset. Israelis’ experiences as individuals and as a nation have taught that terrible things will happen. Some people will die as a result but those who survive will be stronger because of it. This is the mindset of resilience. “Maybe it’s because of something he experienced.” A lawyer I once met was obviously brilliant but also obsessive and prone to temperamental fits. I was told about him: “Oh yeah, he’s nuts. But maybe it’s because of something he went through [as a soldier].” In a single breath, there was a swift judgement, forgiveness and understanding. Generally Israeli society is willing to give people the benefit of the doubt and forgive unpleasant behaviors if and when they are a result of previously experienced trauma. It’s different when you are fighting for your home One of the reasons traumatic events can be scarring is that they often seem
completely random, creating a feeling of helplessness. The soldier may question why his friend was killed and not him. After all, seconds before, he was standing exactly where his friends stood when the bomb exploded. The person riding the earlier bus might question why she left the house earlier that day and wasn’t on the bus that was blown up in the terror attack—the bus she normally rode to work. The lack of control over traumatic events that occurred or could occur in the future is frightening. In Israel, this is tempered with a collective purpose. Everyone goes to the army for the same reason. Everyone suffers from terror attacks for the same reason. The individual cannot control what is happening but at least they know why it’s happening. Love Honor is something you do from far away. Love is something up close and personal. While Americans honor and respect their soldiers, Israelis love their soldiers passionately. To Israelis, soldiers aren’t heroic figures you throw parades for and give medals to. They are our boys, our girls, our family. You feed them, make sure they are warm and comfortable, let them sleep on your shoulder next to you on the bus. It doesn’t matter if you never saw them before and don’t know their name. It doesn’t matter if they come from a different background than you or have a personality you don’t like. The minute they put on the uniform, they belong to you and you belong to them. Each soldier could be anyone’s soldier, so you do for someone else’s son or daughter exactly what you would hope someone would do for yours.
CONCLUSION When it is understood that PTSD is not a physiological problem but a type of emotional poison that overloads the soul/psyche, effective measures can be
taken to both prevent and treat those that are suffering. Drugs may numb symptoms like anxiety or insomnia, but they cannot heal the symptoms, because they don’t address the cause of the problem. The greatest need for someone suffering from PTSD is to be understood and then to find an outlet for their emotions. For this reason, many of the beneficial support programs developed combine work with animals (who do not demand explanations and don’t judge) or nonverbal activities that create a peaceful place for the soul/psyche, such as art therapy or physical activity in nature. One of the most powerful ways to regain the feeling of control that PTSD steals from the victim is to empower them to mentor others. Who better to teach that every one of us has the choice to be a survivor, not a victim?
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Forest Rain was born in Detroit and immigrated with her family to Israel at the age of thirteen. She served in the IDF Northern Command as an Ordnance Corps Personnel Coordination Sgt. After her service, Forest Rain codeveloped and co-directed a project to aid victims of terrorism and war. These activities gave her extensive firsthand experience with the emotional and psychological processes of civilians, soldiers and their families, wounded and/or bereaved and traumatized by terrorism and war (grief, guilt, PTSD, etc.). Forest Rain is a Marketing Communications and Branding expert. Connect with Forest Rain Inspiration from Zion: www. InspirationFromZion.com Twitter: @frisrael Email: lionheart.e@gmail.com
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HYPERBARIC OXYGEN THERAPY
Helping Those with the Invisible Wounds of War by Anthony E. Jones, Major U.S. Air Force, ret.
Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Benjamin Knauth (blue), a 29-year-old native of Centennial, Colo., and Petty Officer 2nd Class Dustin Koch, a 26-year-old native of Las Cruces, N.M., corpsmen with 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, place reassuring hands on the shoulder of an Afghan National Policeman while examining his injuries in the battalion aid station here following an attack by a suicide bomber in Helmand province’s Garmsir district, April 19, 2012. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Reece Lodder
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In the spring of 2010, one of my students in our tactical driving course told me about hyperbaric oxygen therapy, or HBOT, for war veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI).
H
e had noticed my headaches and I had told him that I had been blown up in Iraq, resulting in multiple concussions. He also told me about two U.S. Air Force airmen, injured by a roadside improvised
explosive device (IED) blast in Iraq, who had been helped by HBOT. He went on about the research and success of Dr. Paul Harch, of Louisiana State University School of Medicine. At first, I assumed he had watched one too
many YouTube videos, but then I found out this young man had a PhD, and was entrenched deeply in the industry. Always searching for a way to ease my “brain pain� (what I call my headaches) and to bypass a future of possible
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The author’s home HBOT Chamber. Photo: Major Jones.
Alzheimer’s, I started looking into it. In HBOT, the patient breathes pure oxygen, under pressure, which speeds it through the bloodstream, reducing edema, activating senescent neurons, down-regulating inflammation, promoting growth of neural pathways, stopping swelling/reperfusion injury (damaged tissue due to lack of oxygen), restarting stunned cellular metabolism, stimulating white blood cells, regrowing blood vessels, and activating stem cells eight times faster than normal. HBOT is approved by the FDA to treat over 14 different conditions, including diabetic open foot/leg wounds, soft tissue injuries, acute skin burns, carbon monoxide poisoning, crush injuries, decompression sickness, severe anemia,
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intracranial abscesses, and compromised skin grafts and flaps.i It provides oxygen, breathed under pressure, to deep tissues inside the body. The oxygen helps the healing and regrowth of damage at the cellular level. The standard protocol for a TBI regimen is forty treatments, or “dives,” in a sealed and pressurized chamber, at 1.5 atmospheres of pressure (atm), equivalent to an hour of diving underwater at 33 feet of depth. The pressure causes oxygen to saturate tissues at a rate seven to twelve times that of normal breathing. The military has spent tens of millions of dollars doing research, only to come to the conclusion that the science behind HBOT is not provable. Yet, ten times as many studies, nationally and
internationally, show just the opposite! The latest research study funded by the U.S. Department of Defense and the military medical system showed that there was no significant effect on postconcussive symptoms.ii “The researchers were told by many participants that they felt better, that their traumatic brain injury or PTSD symptoms improved, but the researchers hypothesized that these ‘improvements’ were placebo effects.” iii It significantly downplayed the actual improvements of many of the participants, although there are dozens more studies from countries all over the world, touting the opposite. Russia, China, Israel, to name a few. The cost? Of course it’s the cost. In the fall of 2010, I purchased my own chamber. The cost was nearly $20,000. I made the purchase to give myself every chance of maintaining my brain health, hopefully stalling any future deterioration of dementia, Alzheimer’s, and neurodegenerative disease. Dr. Paul Harch is a groundbreaker and long-term advocate for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. His 2010 Louisiana State University School of Medicine IRB-approved study of 15 blastinjured veterans showed a significant improvement in patients treated with HBOT iv. Patients showed an average IQ jump of 15 points in 30 days, 40% improvement rate in post-concussion syndrome symptoms, 30% reduction in PTS symptoms and 51% decrease in depression. Yet a similar study done by the Department of Defense showed no significant improvement. Come on? The U.S. Olympic team has treated numerous sports injuries and concussions, as has the U.S. military’s Special Operations Command, who have used HBOT to treat knee replacements, fractures, and concussions, as well as hundreds of professional athletes,
A U.S. Army soldier with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment covers his ear as a controlled detonation destroys an improvised explosive device during Operation Helmand Spider in Badula Qulp, Afghanistan, on Feb. 23, 2010. Photo: Defense.gov News
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A Stryker on its side after surviving a buried IED blast on April 15, 2007. The Stryker was recovered and protected its soldiers on more missions until another bomb finally put it out of action. The Stryker was hit by a deeply buried improvised explosive device while conducting operations just south of the Shiek Hamed village in Iraq. (also see the article: Photo: www.flickr.com/photos/soldiersmediacenter/ including football players, MMA fighters, soccer players, rugby players and professional wrestlers. Air Force research demonstrated that fractures heal 30% faster and stronger under HBOT v. There are also hundreds of plastic surgeons across the country using HBOT postsurgery to speed the healing process. Our U.S. military’s Special Operations Command is using this. Why weren’t we told about HBOT? Oh yeah: equipment, infrastructure and manpower. The cost. Here’s the deal. We aren’t offering our wounded warriors the best possible treatment, so unless you discover this on your own, or are somehow connected with those who know about
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this treatment, you are shuffled around, stalled, and left to your own devices. On August 21st of 2005, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Patt Maney was blown up by an improvised explosive device (IEDvi. The blast left him with a transient loss of consciousness, and several seconds’ anterograde memory loss (loss of the ability to create new memories after the event). Other symptoms he had were headaches, short-term memory loss, and fatigue. He was medically evacuated to Walter Reed in Washington, DC, where his cognitive deficits were noted as low normal. He was medically retired in April of 2007. General Maney was not only a
military officer, but a Florida county judge, as well. This injury left him unable to balance a checkbook, understand the storyline of a TV show, read a paragraph in the newspaper, as well as remember what he had just read. This was very similar to my experience my first year back. I understand these feelings all too well. With his wife as his advocate, she discovered HBOT through Dr. Albert Zant, Jr. According to Gen. Maney, “We were initially told about HBOT by Dr. Zant, who then consulted with the PM&R physician at Walter Reed and with the, then hospital commander, both wonderful physicians who were willing to try something different. The hospital commander had to contact Tricare to have the treatment at GWU Hospital authorized.” He began the Dr. Harch protocol at George Washington University one year post his incident/injury. There he had 80 dives at 1.5 atm, of one hour, with blocks of 40 each. He showed noticeable improvement at 18 dives. At 25 dives he was much more sociable and had less fatigue. After 80 dives there was a significant improvement in his cognition
Here’s the deal. We aren’t offering our wounded warriors the best possible treatment, so unless you discover this on your own, or are somehow connected with those who know about this treatment, you are shuffled around, stalled, and left to your own devices. and he was able to return to duty in the summer of 2007, as a judge in Okaloosa County, Florida. This was in 2007, just prior to my injuries. Why wasn’t the success of General Maney’s case broadcast out to those who could assist other blast victims? The media? This success could have been passed down to the tens of thousands of TBI-wounded warriors who followed him, yet they weren’t. I contacted General Maney for my book and he told me, “I have tried to disseminate the information, but the DOD and VA medical establishments were and are resistant. With several other volunteers, I’ve met and written to members of Congress, Surgeons General of each of the services at different times,
and with VA officials. For many of the meetings, I was accompanied by a former Secretary of the Army.” This was a general officer attempting to get the word out and it seems as even he was mostly dismissed. Trying to advocate with an ongoing brain injury can in itself be exhausting, yet he tried, and still advocates to this day. What do you have to do? Here’s another one. In January of 2008, two United States Air Force airmen from the 720th Special Tactics Group, Hurlburt Field, Florida, were injured by a roadside IED blast in Iraq.vii Although both survived with no physical wounds, both suffered from TBI concussive injuries. Soon afterwards they both developed insomnia, headaches,
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The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2017 37
Major Jones in Baghdad. irritability, memory difficulties, and other cognitive issues, typically what I call “brain pain.” Prior to their deployment, they were tested with the Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics, or ANAM. This is a computer-based testing tool designed to observe the speed and accuracy of the person’s attention, memory, and thinking ability. It’s conducted prior to an individual’s deployment and is used to identify and monitor an individual who is involved in a brain-related injury. This allows a
38 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2017
before-and-after analysis of any TBIs. Six months after being injured, the two airmen were tested again and the scores were notably decreased, showing marked deficiencies in memory and thinking ability. Once again, these two airmen were also able to get treated with HBOT. Someone knew something? The special operations community knew something. These successes were documented. Were they buried? Both airmen had continuous symptoms of TBI, which did not improve for almost seven months and were on track to be medically discharged. With HBOT, substantial improvement was made within the first two weeks. Headaches and
insomnia improved quickly, while irritability, cognitive defects, and memory problems improved more slowly. Follow-up testing at nine and twelve months post-injury showed continued improvement in all areas. Both airmen were returned to duty, saving the government an estimated $2.6 million each in lifetime disability cost. Most importantly, their brain pain was gone. Gen. Maney was injured in August of 2005. These two airmen in 2008. I was hit twice in 2007, yet no one ever mentioned HBOT to me as a treatment option. This not only affects me, but upwards of 70,000 known combat blast injuries, as well as the millions of civilians who are living with TBI. Again, it seems as if the easiest and cheapest methodology is to medicate the patient with pills, send them to counseling, medically discharge or retire them, and/or leave them to their own resolve. With veteran suicide at an all time high, we should be doing everything possible to help our war veterans. I personally know warfighters who have comitted suicide because they could no longer take the painful headaches. When we go to war we “plan” on blowing things up. In turn, we know our enemy will do the same. Kill or be killed. We have to realize that a “plan” must be in place to maintain a healthy and intelligent fighting force. We must plan for their return and the care they will need to reintegrate back into society and become thriving members once more. We did not learn that lesson after World Wars I and II, Korea, and Vietnam, and we must learn it now. We owe our combat veterans. At a minimum, portable HBOT chambers like mine should be located at every Combat Support Hospital (CSH) deployed to a hostile area. The cost is minimal—fifteen to twenty thousand
dollars—and it requires minimal space, a ten-by-eight foot area. This can be used immediately on any blast victims while they’re recuperating from their injuries. I would have been there everyday. Out of every war, our medical communities learn valuable lessons in lifesaving protocols. When it comes to blood loss, pneumothorax, airway obstructions, eye and ear injuries, infections and amputations, these wars have produced dramatic increases in survivability. These lessons have helped millions of civilians as a result. We need to put into practice some of the newest and most advanced protocols for TBIs, giving our veterans every possibility of a future without neurodegenerative diseases. The Iraq and Afghanistan wars have birthed a new group of blast-related TBI
A hospital corpsman cleans facial wounds after an improvised explosive device attack during a patrol in Afghanistan. Photo: U.S. Marine Corps,Cpl. Michael J. Ayotte
The Iraq and Afghanistan wars have birthed a new group of blast-related TBI victims. Over the next forty years, these blast victims will require care. This is the next combat concussion crisis. victims. Over the next forty years, these blast victims will require care. This is the next combat concussion crisis. We are just now acknowledging TBI, but much like professional football concussions, the real manifestations are yet to be realized.
I hope that in the next war, HBOT chambers will be deployed to the combat support hospitals in the field. I’ve spent hundreds of hours in my chamber, firmly believing HBOT has helped. It is now part of my long-term management strategy.
•
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The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2017 39
REFERENCES “Report to Congress on the Use of Hyperbaric Oxygen for Medical Care and Research in Response to H.R. 3326, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2010.” 2011. RefID: 1-9B17BF9. ii Wolf, George, David Cifu, Laura Baugh, William Carne, and Leonardo Profenna. 2012. “The Effect of Hyperbaric Oxygen on Symptoms after Mild Traumatic Brain Injury” Journal of Neurotrauma, 29(17): 2606-2612. doi:10.1089/neu.2012.2549. iii Miller, R. Scott, and Charles W. Hoge. 2014. 11/17/2014, “Effects of Hyperbaric Oxygen on Postconcussion Symptoms in Military Members.” Last updated November 11, 2014. http://media. jamanetwork.com/news-item/effects-ofhyperbaric-oxygen-on-postconcussionsymptoms-in-military-members/ i
Neubauer, Richard A. 2011. “U.S. Veteran Pilot Trial LSU IRB #7051 HBOT.” Harch Hyperbarics Inc. http:// www.hbot.com/us-veteran-pilot-trial-lsuirb-7051-hbot-tbiptsd-preliminary-data. v Duncan, Bill. “Hyperbarics for Athletes” [PowerPoint presentation, slide 21]. Accessed 2013. http://www. slideshare.net/robertinseattle/hyperbaricsfor-athletes-dr-bill-duncan vi Brooks, Steve B. 2011. “The War Within: Part II - Paths to Healing.” http://www.legion.org/magazine/159052/ war-within-part-ii-paths-healing, (accessed 2013.) vii Wright, James K., Eddie Zant, Kevin Groom, Robert E. Schlegel, and Kirby Gilliland. 2009. “Case report: Treatment of mild traumatic brain injury with hyperbaric oxygen.” UHM 36(6). iv
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Major Anthony Jones is a businessman, author and retired Major in the United States Air Force. In his book Brain Pain, he gives an honest and raw account of surviving and living with traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, the results of the injuries he suffered after serving in Iraq in 2007. The U.S. airman lived through multiple explosions and concussions, and has spent the better part of a decade dealing with the debilitating physical and emotional scars of his blast-related injuries. Anthony now lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he runs his own company: Core Group Security Consultants, Bodyguard and Investigations Company. http://majoranthonyjones.com/ http://coregroupsecurity.com/
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40 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2017
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TRAINING REVIEW
Israeli National Police Civil Qualification
T
his is a qualification course to become a certified police officer volunteer in the state of Israel. The course lasts for approximately one month and qualifies you on three weapon systems, vehicle operations, fraudulent documentation detection, basic investigations, security operations, mass casually management, and surveillance. The general population is open to apply for the course provided they can pass a level four security clearance (same as full time officers) and are in good physical condition. The course I observed had about thirty participants ranging from young people fresh out of military service to older people who were retired from the police force. The course is held two to three times a year at each of the country’s large municipal police stations. In some cases, students can option for the border guard or MAGAV, which is the combat wing of the police. Service there will mostly be in Jerusalem and other border locations. This particular course was for people wishing to work in the center of the country. After graduation, students are issued the same uniforms and equipment as fulltime sworn officers and are even issued police identification cards. Some of the 42 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2017
more veteran volunteers who helped teach the course used personal gear they had purchased. Most graduates will join the patrol division, where they will find the action they are looking for and be able to contribute where most needed. Upon graduation, each volunteer is assigned a manager and becomes part of a chain of command. Most contribute eight hours a month, or one shift, while others can work up to a forty hour workweek. Volunteers who graduate this course have full police powers while on duty and are issued 9mm pistols and AR-15 rifles (prior to taking up shift). However, when off duty they posses no powers of arrest or any law enforcement authority. An interesting fact is that law enforcement in Israel is focused almost entirely on terrorism and violent crime. In the entire state, there are only some seventy officers on duty whose primary
by Editorial Staff
function is traffic enforcement. While this may be a primary responsibility of their American counterparts, it is not a priority or seen as a source of revenue for the state. Some students in the class chose to qualify on their own personal handguns and use them for patrol duty and for concealed carry while off duty. A concealed carry license is not easy to get in Israel, and not everyone is entitled to own a weapon. You must demonstrate a true need and proficiency. While license holders may have national reciprocity, they are only authorized to use the weapon that they used to pass the qualification course. Students must requalify every six months in the police and every year as civilians. It says a lot about a society when everyday citizens sign up for such a course and are trusted and empowered to augment police officers. In conclusion, I would say that the training accomplished exactly what it sought to accomplish in preparing citizens to work side by side with full time officers responding to 911 calls. The course was interesting and informative, although I will admit boring at times.
•
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The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2017 43
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• Polymer bolt guide acts as a dust cover and provides smooth bolt cycling • Fully adjustable match grade trigger
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S-CUT S-CUT is designed for use on patients in rescue situations as well as emergency situations in hospitals. It is a fast way to remove the patient’s clothes in order to expose injuries without needing to change the patient’s position which could inflict further injury or unnecessary pain. S-CUT replaces scissors, knifes & similar tools. Ordinary fabrics as well as leather belts, zippers & heavy outerwear can be easily cut. All you need is a free edge of the clothes where you can start the cut. S-CUT is designed for optimal ergonomics & provides an excellent grip. Using scissors in heavy materials will most often require a lot of effort. The S-CUT is used with a pulling action requiring minimal effort. The circular cutting blade is recessed in order to protect the patient & user from injury. The cutting blade can be easily replaced without the need for any additional tools. Few parts, which can be easily removed & assembled, makes the cleaning process easy. 2016 EMS World Innovation Award Winner. www.tsunamilights.com 44 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2017
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The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2017 45
Counter
ADVERTISER INDEX
The
APRIL/MAY 2017
VOLUME 10 • NUMBER 2
Journal for Law Enforcement, Intelligence & Special Operations Professionals To request detailed product information, visit our website http://thecounterterroristmag.com/readerservicecard.php or scan this code. Select the appropriate Reader Service Number (RSN) on the web-form and submit your contact information. Individual advertiser’s websites are also provided below for your convenience.”
Page
Ad/Company • website and/or email........................................................................................................................................................RSN Number
4
12th Annual Homeland Security Professionals Conference • www.thecounterterroristmag.com/conference.................. 177
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American Public University • www.AMUonline.com/Counter-Terrorist.............................................................................. 25
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46 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May 2017
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The Advanced Global Security Workshop in
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Since 2005, SSI has taken nearly 500 First Responders to Israel and shown them the basics of the Israel security concept. Thanks in part to that program, we are better able to defend ourselves in the United States. In response to demand, we are now offering a once-in-a-lifetime experience covering the following advanced subjects: May 12–20
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Phone: 866-573-3999 Fax: 866-573-2090 contact@securitysolutionsint.com Circle 50 on Reader Service Card 48 The Counter Terrorist ~ April/May Circle 2152017 on Reader Service Card
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