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Francis' stops in Wash­ing­ton, Phil­adelphia, and New York are des­ig­nated as na­tion­al spe­cial se­cur­ity events, a con­sid­er­a­tion that’s been giv­en to in­aug­ur­a­tions, pres­id­en­tial nom­in­at­ing con­ven­tions, some ma­jor in­ter­na­tion­al meet­ings, and even the Winter Olympics. And col­lab­or­at­ing agen­cies have been practicing: from dry runs at the Cap­it­ol with a fake pope on Sept. 1 and Sept. 14 to tab­letop ex­er­cises in the three cit­ies that the pope will visit from Tuesday until Sunday.

Of­fi­cials are tak­ing an abund­ance of se­cur­ity pre­cau­tions. All at­tendees will un­der­go a se­cur­ity screen­ing be­fore en­ter­ing the pope’s D.C. events and his mo­tor­cade route. Tick­ets are re­quired for all Wash­ing­ton events, ex­cept the parade. Streets with­in a three-block ra­di­us of the Cap­it­ol will be closed start­ing Thursday at mid­night in an­ti­cip­a­tion of Fran­cis’s ad­dress to Con­gress, with a host of oth­er road clos­ures throughout the pope’s time in Wash­ing­ton.

The Secret Ser­vice will have cov­ert as­sets, said Mickey Nel­son, a former as­sist­ant dir­ect­or now at Com­mand Con­sult­ing Group, al­though per­haps not of the fake monk vari­ety.

“I don’t think there will be a need to go to that ex­tent … this time. But they will be us­ing a lot of things that are not vis­ible that the gen­er­al pub­lic—any­body at­tend­ing the event—will nev­er see and nev­er have the need to see, as far as se­cur­ity as­sets [go].

The Secret Ser­vice nev­er wants se­cur­ity to be the fo­cus of any event,

To read the full article please go to: The National Journal

Newly-released photos give a behind-the-scenes look at top U.S. officials in the hours after the September 11, 2001 attacks. These previously classified images, taken by Cheney's photographer, were released as part of a freedom of information act request, and show the mood and stress of the White House administration during a tragic event in American histroy.

Command partner and former White House Dep. Chief of Staff, Joseph Hagin, spoke to CNN about the mood and camaraderie of the officials during this time.

The stress was immense, it was very real and could have been debilitating... but people really rallied

To read the full article please go to: CNN

   

As Donald Trump campaigns for the Republican nomination for President, Trump vows to build a massive wall to keep out illegal Mexican migrants. “Building a wall is easy, and it can be done inexpensively,” he said Thursday in an interview with The Washington Post. “It’s not even a difficult project if you know what you’re doing. And no one knows what they’re doing like I do.” Even if such a barrier could be erected, experts and government officials agreed that making it impenetrable is virtually impossible, as is completely securing the entire 1,954-mile border.

Former senior U.S. Customs and Border Protection official, Thad Bingel says that a wall along much of the entire border may be theoretically possible but may not be desirable.

Is it desirable? At what cost, and what do you give up to pay for that?

 

Every wall can be circumvented. People can go under it, they can go over it. . . . no one should go into this with the idea that if you just build the right kind of wall, no one will get through.

To read the full article please go to: Washington Post

WASHINGTON – Command Consulting Group, LLC announced today the expansion of its Business Advisory Services practice and team with the addition of Jennifer Arangio, former Senior Counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security.

Arangio joins Command as a Principal and will manage Command’s existing Business Advisory Service and Transportation Security practice areas, in addition to offering clients new insight gained from years in the midst of key Capitol Hill policy and funding battles related to securing the homeland.  Arangio brings an extensive background and invaluable experience to Command.

“I am very pleased to welcome Jennifer today to our growing team,” Command founding partner W. Ralph Basham said. “We are excited to offer our clients her years of private practice and legislative experience, expertise and insight on homeland security policy matters ranging from cybersecurity to aviation security, and deep relationships with policy makers, industry, and agency officials.”

During her eight years on Capitol Hill, Arangio served on the House Homeland Security Committee, advising Chairmen Peter T. King and Michael T. McCaul and Committee members on diverse matters such as: cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, privacy, transportation, budget, appropriations, financial services issues, including CFIUS, and national security programs. She also worked on multiple pieces of legislation and was the lead counsel on the Committee’s signature Cybersecurity legislation, which was passed by Congress and signed into law by the President in December 2014.

Arangio also worked closely with industry leaders, trade organizations, associations, and think tanks on legislative policy and regulatory matters. She was actively involved in the Congress’ work on aviation security programs, involving risk based screening, as well as data privacy issues and communicating to stakeholders on these topics.

“Jennifer knows the legislative and public policy landscape on so many of today’s hot button security issues ranging from cyber breaches to data privacy to aviation security,” Command founding partner Thad Bingel said.  “She will offer our current and prospective clients a valuable and fresh perspective on the intersection of security requirements, agency programs and legislative action gained from a wealth of hands on experience.” 

Hailing from New York, Arangio previously worked as Managing Partner of McCabe, Flynn & Arangio, LLP, a boutique law firm with a corporate and securities regulation practice. In 2003, she ran for New York City Council and won her primary election. Arangio graduated cum laude from New York Law School and received a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from The George Washington University.

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