Project White Horse Forum

  By Captain Charlie Meinema Tacoma Washington Police Department   Disasters may be local, but few are.  Even local disasters are not local, as Yogi Berra might say.   This is often because criminals, explosions, terrorists and fires fail to respect jurisdictional borders, and / or because the crisis – even if inside one geographical or […]

The goal of emergency and crisis response is to reduce output variability in a context in which inputs are highly variable; to that end, crisis response is, in part, about creating an orderly arena within a chaotic environment. … research on High Reliability Organizations (HROs) has suggested that some complex, hazard-managing organizations, for which failure is […]

Culture:  The sum of attitudes, customs, and beliefs that distinguishes one group of people from another. Culture is transmitted, through language, material objects, ritual, institutions, and art, from one generation to the next. In our case groups of people who defy being victims, those who realize survival is an ongoing team process, an ongoing learning […]

I’m very pleased to announce that Project White Horse 084640 Edition #8 – A Culture of Preparedness and Intersectional Ideas  – is now on line. The last two editions have provided perspective on “resilient communities” and leadership required. In Edition #8 we shift from providing “perspective” to creating actionable understanding and answers. The first part […]

Invest in preparedness, not prediction…I will never get to know the unknown since, by definition, it is unknown. However, I can always guess how it might affect me, and I should base my decisions around that.”     The Black Swan, Nassem Nicholas Taleb   In  2001, the Defense Science Board investigated what they termed  “a revolution in […]

Forty years ago, 3 March 1969, the first TOPGUN class  began “graduate level” fighter pilot education and training at Naval Air Station Miramar at the Fighter Weapons School. They were there because eagles screamed. They were there because fighter pilots will not accept failure. In 1966 North Vietnamese fighter pilots (flying MiG 17 Frescos and MiG […]

After more than 37 years of uniform service to the U.S. army and our nation, I will spend the second half of my life committed to a new mission: Creating a “Culture of Preparedness’’ in America. Every effort I take, whether it is this new Web site, public speaking/lectures, fund-raisers, or the books I have […]

We now move to Discussion Thread 3. >> Intelligence implications for a resilient community response force team in a low probability/high impact  worst case disaster environment:   critical information – what, where and how education aimed at preventing “victimhood” planning on multiple levels being a responder not a victim building leaders AND followers – who, […]

>>  Thread #2 Intelligence meaning and usage in natural disasters with Katrina as an event example As we move further down the time line from September 11, 2001, multiple issues and events tend to push professional response organizations toward an “all hazards” approach. Those focused by agency or function speciffically on intelligence, anti-terrorism, counter-terrorism, gang […]

A significant aspect of Project White Horse research, e-magazine editions, and forum/blog is search for and use of multiple/diverse experience, education, or discipline perspective with intent to gain better insight into decision making in the hyper complex, low probability – high impact type disaster situation.  In that regard and in preparation for the upcoming edition, […]