Agencies in LV expect smooth transition into new department

Jace Radke

Friday, Feb. 28, 2003 | 11:27 a.m.

When the new Homeland Security Department officially absorbs 22 federal agencies Saturday, officers at the isolated Coast Guard station near Searchlight expect a quiet transition.

"It really doesn't affect us," said Petty Officer Jim Pulse, who ensures that a long-range radio pulse used by ships and aircraft for navigation is continuously transmitted from the station. "As long as our mission doesn't change it's not going to make much of a difference to us."

In addition to the Coast Guard, the Homeland Security Department will absorb prominent agencies such as Customs, the Secret Service, the Transportation Security Administration and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Designed to improve national security, the move is the biggest government reorganization since the Defense Department was created in 1947.

It might be expected that the Searchlight station -- a desert outpost that amplifies a radio pulse for ship and aircraft navigation -- wouldn't be greatly affected by the restructuring.

Officials with other federal agencies in Las Vegas are also expecting a smooth changeover.

"There's already an established relationship between the different agencies in the Las Vegas Valley," said Jim Blair, TSA director at McCarran International Airport. "We and the other agencies are locked in on what we need to do, and this isn't going to affect our day-to-day operations.

"There may be new people to report to, or new ways of reporting, but our focus is on Las Vegas and our mission here."

Homeland Security is little more than an administrative shell at this point, and officials at the various agencies have been told not to expect any immediate changes in their missions or in the services they provide.

There is still uncertainty as to how all these agencies will interface, and rumors abound about how the new department will be organized, said Karen Dorman, special agent in charge of the INS in Las Vegas.

"We don't really know what's going to happen," Dorman said. "We've all heard the rumors that there are going to be homeland security districts with a main office in each district, but we don't know if Las Vegas will have one of these offices or not.

"Considering that we have one of the busiest airports in the world, and how transient it is in Las Vegas, I would think it may be a good idea to have one of the offices here."

Las Vegas was visited by Sept. 11 hijackers, including suspected ringleader Mohammed Atta, in 2001.

There is already a training center for air marshals located in Las Vegas, but officials with Homeland Security did not return phone calls seeking comment on the possibility of a regional headquarters in Las Vegas.

The new department will merge the 22 agencies into four major divisions: border and transportation security; emergency preparedness and response; chemical, biological and nuclear countermeasures; and information analysis and infrastructure protection. There is also a management division that will be responsible for daily operations.

Dorman says she hopes the new department will cut down on red tape between agencies and provide channels for more structured communication while still allowing the agencies to meet their responsibilities.

"At the street level agents are always communicating and sharing information, but this may make it easier for information to be shared at higher levels," Dorman said. "Each agency has its own role to play in homeland security.

"I know we don't want to be the ones who naturalize a terrorist."

Being a part of the new department could be advantageous to the agencies because of the emphasis the Bush administration is placing on anti-terrorism issues, Dorman said.

"I think it could help with budgets," Dorman said. "Larger agencies are usually pretty well funded, and with the limelight surrounding this I think Congress is going to make sure it works."

The Homeland Security budget for 2004 is $32.2 billion, 7.4 percent more than the combined 2003 budget for the agencies absorbed the new department, and 64 percent more than the 2002 budgets.

Each agency brings a unique set of skills to the new department, and it will take some time before the agencies mesh, said Doug Coombs, special agent in charge of the Secret Service in Las Vegas.

"I see it as an opportunity to make a contribution to the war on terrorism," Coombs said. "Our dual missions of protection and investigation remain intact, and we just have to see where that expertise can fit in with the new department.

"It's going to be an education process for everyone."

While putting Customs and the INS under the same umbrella makes sense, because they handle illegally transported items and people respectively, the inclusion of the Secret Service may seem strange to those who think of the agency only as a protection force for elected officials.

"Our training is in anticipating, preparation and prevention, and that fits right in with the philosophy of the new department," said Coombs, whose agency also works on investigating bank and identity fraud.

The mission of the Secret Service's National Threat Assessment Center mission could be expanded from designing models for identifying potential assassins to providing methodologies for assessing vulnerabilities across the country, Coombs said.

The Coast Guard's mission will continue unchanged, though it is taking on added responsibilities for securing ports, and in the potential conflict in Iraq. About 1,500 active Coast Guardsmen are being sent to the Persian Gulf, aboard 11 cutters, four of which have already arrived, Coast Guard officials said.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the Coast Guard has become more involved with national security, having started a sea marshal program, created highly trained special maritime safety teams and assessed potential terrorist threats at U.S. ports.

The INS and Customs have beefed up inspections at airports and are looking more closely at things that may not have raised a red flag in the past, Dorman said.

While the agencies will officially be a part of Homeland Security Saturday, they are still in the dark about possible changes once the new department gets some momentum, said Michael Fleming, U.S. Customs spokesman for Nevada.

"We're reporting for duty on Monday just as we've always done, and we'll see what happens down the road," Fleming said.

Patience will be key for the agencies, Coombs said.

"The mission and objectives of Homeland Security are already clear," Coombs said. "The processes and bureaucracy will evolve and catch up with us later."