Protection Strategies Incorporated (PSI) provided subject matter experts to the U.S. Coast Guard in support of that organization's Post Incident Analysis Team (PIAT). The PIAT was chartered to look at specific incidents which may impact the Coast Guard's ability to operate as well as "Incidents of National Interest" (INI) which have potential impacts on homeland security. PSI was tasked with recommending actions to mitigate impacts of future such, or similar, incidents. PSI also assisted the PIAT in designing information protocols that ensured the timely flow of critical information up and down the chain of command.
Tasking was focused in three specific areas:
- The August 14, 2003 massive failure of the electrical grid in the upper Midwest, Northeast and adjacent provinces in southern Canada. This affected and estimated 50,000,000 people. The blackout widely disrupted federal, state, and local governments as well as commercial operations provisioning critical infrastructure.
- The widespread computer worm BLASTER and its subsequent variants.
- In September 2003, Hurricane Isabel made landfall on the coast of North Carolina and continued to track through the states of Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. The storm had significant impacts on federal, state and local infrastructure.
Specifically, PSI was tasked with conducting a full-scale evaluation of each of these incidents and any others which may have been assigned during the life of the contract. These evaluations were aimed at better understanding the affects and impacts of the events and providing recommendations for mitigating actions. These events were also to be viewed from the standpoint understanding potential consequences of a terrorist attack affecting Coast Guard operations infrastructure. The scope of these investigations included but was not limited to:
- Adequacy of Continuity of Operations (COOP) plans and equipment
- Sufficiency of and Adherence to Continuity of Government (COG) plans
- Adequacy of Antiterrorism/Force Protection (ATFP) measures
- Organizational Crisis Response
- Impact on Maritime Sector
- Impact on Maritime Domain Awareness
- Interagency and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) coordination on a regional basis
- Impact on the Emergency Transportation Process
- Ability to identify, prioritize and protect critical infrastructure
- Border Security Implications
- Performance and Information Flow
- Effect on Operation Readiness
- Effect on Battle Rhythm/Ops Tempo
