Volume 3, Issue 1

It has been a tough season for my football team. They have experienced (as have their fans) the extremes of success – as high as #4 in the national polls and as low as, well, the season is not yet over so suffice it to say in the unranked lower percentile. When I first followed this team, being in the top 10 was merely an optimist’s vision; however, for many years now nationally televised bowl games and championships have become routine. Similarly, Human Systems Integration (HSI) has come a long way, but has it arrived or does it have a long way to go? Since its historical and military roots are well known, allow an armchair academician to muse about three possible paths for the future. In many ways, the manner and direction in which the readership reacts and responds to these paths will largely determine which will come to fruition. In this sense, the reader is more a player than a spectator.

I have siblings, parents, and friends. I was a student then taught in a foreign country. I have a boss and coworkers. Through all my experiences in these different facets of life I now understand that the most valuable knowledge is that of the art of communication. As I consider the four topics of this magazine—Workforce, Performance, Training, and Development—I see that effective communication is the foundation upon which success in all areas must be built.

Despite the increased security efforts, governmental restructuring, and extensive spending, the United States continues to face substantial challenges to being a resilient society able to prevent, respond, and recover from both man-made and natural disasters. Eight years after the attacks of September 11th, 2001, the nation remains mired in a spending hole focused on implementing new, expensive technology rather than developing the necessary leadership and workforce to conquer the challenges presented within the homeland security profession.