Terrorism Incident
Purpose: Provide a realistic intelligence problem set and operating environment for students to conduct timely research and analysis.
Instruction: This Intelligence Exercise is delivered to participants through this on-line portal. The exercise simulates events surrounding unfolding wave of terrorist incidents in the Republic of York. More lives will be lost if analysts do not thwart terrorist attacks in time. Key to the effort is finding out what entity is behind the terrorist attacks and how those attacks are executed. In this role playing exercise, students will act as Intelligence Analysts for the Island Nation. The Island Nation has an embassy in the Yorkian capital of Metropolis City. The Island Nation counts York as a new ally since the fledgling nation state recently won its independence from the Great Bear Federation.
As an analyst your responsibility is to compile, collate, and analyze “all-source” information to provide actionable intelligence to national security decision makers. This exercise will challenge students to analyze a terrorist intelligence problem under realistic operating conditions. Participants will identify intelligence gaps, task collection sources, and provide briefings and analytical support to a geographically dispersed customer base.
Areas for analysis include: Tactical support, link analysis, terrorist operational methodology, plans, and intentions.
Scenario: Terrorism Incidents
It is summer during an election year and New Federalist Party leader and President Rufus T. Firefly, a York native, is a candidate for re-election. Excitement is running high in the country in anticipation that he may possibly lose the national election opening the door for moderate candidate Hugo Z. Quackenbush. Firefly has serves three consecutive terms as President. He is a controversial figure. His hard line views and inflammatory slogan “I’ll put my foot down, so shall it be, this is the land of the free…” has drawn sharp criticism from human rights groups, religious institutions, and peace advocates. He has proposed a strong anti-immigration legislation due to the influence and alleged subversive activities of the Great Bear Federation which shares a border with York’s northern province of South Amnesia.
Physical attacks of Quackenbush supporters have been reported to police on an increasing basis. The Firefly campaign has publicly called for calm; but also said that: “Any act of violence is justified to stop Quackenbush in the name of love and peace”. There are concerns in York. Based on the level of “chatter” being received by the intelligence and law enforcement communities, the National Threat Advisory Level was recently raised to orange, indicating a high risk for potential terrorist attacks. Public facilities, transportation hubs, and event locations in most major cities around the country are instituting extra security precautions in light of the orange alert. Major terrorist incidents at this point are likely to destabilize the country. Those activities would almost certainly result in a violent crackdown by the Firefly administration. That in turn, could encourage a Great Bear invasion to “restore order” while establishing a more friendly political regime.
Response: Inter-agency investigation, analysis, and incident response.
The objective for analysts is to understand terrorist motivations, operations and tactics, and organizational structure. The Island Nation’s intelligence forces and diplomats will report this information as it is available. Intelligence, investigation, and media reports are flooding in to analysts. Analysts will work to uncover terrorist activities and to support national security and foreign policy decision makers to determine proposed Courses of Action (COA).