Laura Manning

If ever I were asked what kind of person I'd like to watch over my kids' security, my answer would be: another mother. And so we have Laura Manning in charge...Deputy Director for Fusion (a process that links law enforcement and intelligence, created by Laura) and Production, Homeland Security Operations Center - better known among the in-crowd as the "Ops Center." I can now sleep at night...basically because neither she nor her staff does! It is fitting that Laura's stated goal on her resume is, "To Make A Difference"...and indeed, she has!

FSM: Please comment on the role of women in DHS today, and in national defense in general; are there many women in positions of real authority and thus is it a good career for women?

Laura: Since the beginning of the Department of Homeland Security there have been women in significant positions. Susan Neely, Janet Hale, Karen Morr, Karen Marmaud—all these women have been in senior leadership jobs, have real authority, and are respected for their work. My boss is a tough talking Marine General who some might not expect to be a strong supporter of women, but they would be wrong. He's given me great opportunities and is teaching me the leadership skills I need to move to my next challenges in management. Coming to DHS was one of the best career moves I ever made.

FSM: Was your career path planned from the beginning?

Laura: That question made me laugh out loud! I finished my PhD in 1985 and started as a Political Science College Professor. My specialty was Ocean Policy. I found a job as a fisheries lobbyist. I managed a biology lab. I taught an experiential government course. I worked for the CIA as a proliferation analyst. Now I'm managing the Law Enforcement and Response side of the 24/7 Homeland Security Operations Center. I'm afraid I kept doing things I wanted to do instead of things that are a linear progression. No one should take career advice from me if her primary goal is to get ahead and make lots of money.

FSM: Did 9/11 change your attitudes and plans?

Laura: You bet it did. I watched the attacks on TV like everyone else but we were talking with my office mate's brother who worked across the street from the World Trade Center. My now ex-husband works for DoD and frequented the Pentagon; we couldn't get in touch with him for hours. I volunteered the next week to be the CIA representative to the Vice President WMD National Preparedness Review because as a WMD analyst I knew what awful things bad guys could do to the US—even worse than what they had just done. We met with the Office of Homeland Security staff on their first day in office and within a few weeks we were rolled into their effort. I'm hooked on this mission. As a mother this is the most valuable thing I can do for my kids' physical security. For me it's personal. I believe we can make a difference.

FSM: Tell us as much as you can about the Homeland Security Operations Center (HSOC). What should Americans know about its capabilities that will allow them to feel better protected than they do?

Laura: On a daily basis, we collect terrorist related information from all available sources (Federal, State, Local & private sector) from across the US & pass the information on as raw data to appropriate agencies. Consequently, we attempt to identify terrorist threats to the US, such as:
 
Who or what is approaching the borders, attempting to cross the borders, or residing within the borders, that could bring harm to the US
Daily, collect and fuse information from internal and external intelligence and law enforcement agencies
Conduct initial screen and sort or incoming data prior to passing suspicious activities on for further analysis
Regardless of how insignificant, all suspicious data is passed on for deeper analysis and shared with other agencies
In the case of an actual incident, we act as the primary National level hub in Domestic Incident Management events for operational communications and information sharing. Importantly, we also act as the primary conduit to the White House and the Secretary for Domestic Situational Awareness during a catastrophic event within US.

FSM: Tell us about the Fusion Process at DHS, and is this a process that would be endangered if the Patriot Act is not kept alive?

Laura: The Patriot Act doesn't affect much of what I do. We don't have covert collectors. I gather data from law enforcement, observant citizens, corporate security…they are offering the information freely. We take suspicious activity reports from these kinds of sources and turn them into dots on a map. None of the dots is significant by itself, but when you look at them together co-located at one place or at a specific infrastructure, a pattern starts to appear. For HSOC that is fusion. At that point we hand it over to the analysts to figure out what it means.

FSM: Is it possible to prepare for a nuclear attack? What should average citizens know and do to protect themselves and their families?

Laura: The most likely "nuclear" attack would really be "radiological." Terrorists are extremely unlikely to get a nuke. We can prepare our families to respond sensibly to a radiological attack. It is all about not getting contaminated or getting decontaminated as soon as possible. To avoid contamination we will need to heed shelter in place warnings. Stop ventilation from bringing it in. If we are exposed we need to be aware of the direction of the wind and move up wind of the contamination. We need to be sensible if we believe we have gotten particles on our clothing. The goal is remove and bag the clothes and to get the contamination off by using soap and water. The real key is not to ingest or breathe it in—a scarf or bandana or shirt pulled over nose and mouth will do good things. It is pretty easy to scrub off your skin but very hard to scrub out of your lungs. Radiation isn't magic…we just need not to panic and to get away from the radiation to minimize the damage.

FSM: What kind of education do young people need to advance in the field of national security?

Laura: Good analytic skills. Protecting and preventing terrorism, or indeed in any intelligence area, is about taking the few puzzle pieces that you get and making a picture out of it. You neither want to miss the picture or get the wrong picture. To work on root causes of terror you need to understand many cultures that breed terror and which of the roots is more significant. It all boils down to analysis of what is knowable.

FSM: What do you think is the single greatest danger facing American citizens today, meaning the most likely kind of attack to happen, knowing that anything could happen in reality? And how should mothers prepare their families for that kind of attack?

Laura: I worry most about a biological attack. It is relatively easy, could cause serious illness and death, and would create the kind of fear that terrorism craves. My family has supplies packed in backpacks that includes food, a simple mask, maps, and a plan to meet in West Virginia at my father's cabin in case of an incident. Knowledge is power. Most of the diseases respond to antibiotics if caught early.

FSM: Tell us about your current job. What personal goals of your own does it advance?

Laura: I love my job. I'm a mystery novel reader and love finding answers to questions. That is what I do all day. It is the first time in my professional career that I haven't been thinking about what to do next. I studied Public Administration and now am getting to set up the structure of this organization avoiding some of the problems other organizations have fallen into. I studied Civil Liberties and now am able to set up a system that both strives very hard to gather information about suspicious activities but on the other hand protects the privacy and first amendment rights of citizens. It is a hard balance to make but I feel strongly and am very vocal about how much we have failed if we defeat terrorism and create the Gestapo. I studied Politics and the political arena for this topic is very interesting, to say the least.

FSM: Thank you Laura, it has been my pleasure to meet you.