The bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995 was a wake-up call for the government. Individuals looking to make a statement using violence and destruction will target federal employees no matter where they are stationed, with no distinction between rank-and-file and policy makers.

In response to the April 19, 1995 attack — the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in the nation's history — the Interagency Security Committee (ISC) was established to create safety standards for civilian buildings. At the time of the bombing, there were no security standards in place at nonmilitary federal buildings.

"We've come a long way since then and not just because of the Murrah bombing," said LeAnne Jenkins, executive director of the Oklahoma region Federal Executive Board

Jenkins was in the neighboring Post Office Building, part of the same complex as the Murrah Building, connected by underground tunnels. She felt the ground shake, saw her bookcase rock and assumed there had been an earthquake or an explosion in the basement.

It was dramatic and frightening, she said, but nothing compared to what happened next door.

The bomb killed 168 people, including 19 children.

It was something no one ever thought would happen in the relatively quiet mid-west.

"People were saying we're in Oklahoma, there's no reason I have to go through a magnetometer," Jenkins said. However, after the April 19 attack, "We felt we'd rather be inconvenienced than allow ourselves to ever be attacked again."

More: 20 years after Oklahoma City bombing, scars remain

Six months later, then-President Bill Clinton established the ISC.

"The mission of the ISC is to safeguard U.S. civilian facilities from all hazards by developing state-of-the-art security standards in collaboration with public and private homeland security partners," ISC Chair Caitlin Durkovich told the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs after the shooting at the Navy Yard in 2013.

The ISC is made up of 53 agencies — 21 primary and 32 associate members — working together to ensure the safety of every federal employee, particularly those working in government-owned or leased facilities.

Its work secures some 1.2 million federal buildings, structures and parcels of land for more than 2.5 million employees and millions of visitors daily, Durkovich pointed out.

The ISC primarily produces guidance to federal facilities on best practices for securing against attacks, including outside threats and potential violence within the workplace.

The bulk of the committee's work is distilled into seven policy documents:

The ISC also has working documents on responding to active shooter events and mobile workplace security, among others.

Along with setting standards and guidelines for building security, the ISC offers direct support when needed.

"When agencies cannot solve security-related problems on their own, the ISC brings chief security officers and senior executives together to solve continuing governmentwide security concerns," Durkovich said.

While the Oklahoma City bombing was the impetus for the creation of the ISC, the committee is forward-looking, focused on preventing future attacks.

"This work is based on real-world, present-day conditions and challenges," Durkovich said. "Threats to our critical infrastructure, including federal facilities, are wide-ranging. Not only are there terrorist threats, like the bombing at the Boston Marathon … or the complex shopping mall attack in Kenya, but there are also threats from weather-related events such as Hurricane Sandy, as well as threats to our cyber infrastructure that may have a direct impact on the security of our federal buildings."

Durkovich admitted it is impossible to anticipate every potential threat but stressed that taking a "holistic approach" can make federal facilities more resilient and better prepared to respond when tragedy strikes.

Having the added layers of security can be inconvenient at times but Jenkins, for one, said she feels much safer for it.

"We're definitely more diligent about security at our public buildings," she said.

Twenty years have passed but the lesson of that day has not faded from the minds of the federal employees who were there.

"Any time you go through something like that it leaves a scar, whether it cuts your skin or cuts your soul," Jenkins said.

Aaron Boyd is an awarding-winning journalist currently serving as editor of Federal Times — a Washington, D.C. institution covering federal workforce and contracting for more than 50 years — and Fifth Domain — a news and information hub focused on cybersecurity and cyberwar from a civilian, military and international perspective.

Share:
In Other News
Load More