I IJt - t' 1 - J UNC-lED Roh rt 11 Helson Jr • £xerc1 c fli uhl n rri nq ' t f' olltrol l er o fron Ualter Hervik Senior Connand Controller LESSOHS LEARHEO 1 EST JSOCA HEST 000 Security Issue discussed in a separate docunent z Lffcct1 ucnes of Co ·a· and St rue-torr- Observation The ESI JSOC- ✓ HEST advance party took less than L1 hours to get acquainted and to develop a snooth working relationship with one another and with the Montreu yovernwe11t nt no tine uas there any evidence of •·turf boundary • •• sensi tivi t y or lack of appreciation of the assets and responsibilities of the other key players I Lesson Learned There is no substitute for skill and experience Rdans Clark Steiner each have both in abundant supply and we can expect that if this were a real incident they uould have provided equally effective leadership One cannot IJe equally sanguine obout other agencies that night be involved until the individual leaders have been tested under realistic conditions 3 Size of the HEST Contingent Observation Rt one point the HEST OSC t tas inforned that there were 306 HEST players on site Anbassador Rdans General Steiner and El Presidente often nade connents about the size of the group usually uith a nixture of surprise and consternation Steiner You have enough people here to l'lount your ot tn assault ' Lesson Learned The size of the HEST contingent has grown considerably over the years without any very obvious linear 1 increase in our capability to handle terrorist situations Perhaps i t is an appropriate tine to take a look at uhat is lean Mean nuscle and t that is fat 1 Unreal Attitude Tot 1ard Huclear Threat and Effects Observation Je hav·e- a nuclear terrorist threat in a foreign country to uhich U S assets_are directed to respond EST JSOC HEST CIA host governnent all get involved and there is lots of 1 activity up to the point uhere ' docs their thing Then everybody i goes hone and i t s ho-hun tiMe t thile HEST addresses the nuclear issues l i In a real t torld situation coMpletion of the A activity very likel uould be only a prelininary to a sharply rising level of activity and fear about the nuclear problens Hobody uould be likely to shou the kind of conplacency shoun in these exercises Lesson Learned These HEST exercises are not even close to being realistic in_developing players attitudes touards the sp cified threats Missing are real penalties associated uith naking a nistake or nissing a deadline and fear -- either for one s i personal uel1 being or for the lean or for the populace Unle s D wll be kidding ourselv S -'IS I ba ki ldtn rLH 1clo1 1 n o t i au he · uonlied • it Oi' l t ocl I effectiveness of our HEST resources 1 S Unreal Playing Conditions Present 1 1hen Montrev is Uithin the Soundaries of HTS Observation Ue have a nuclear terrorist threat in the forcigr state of Montrev 1 1hich happens to be a svaall country conplete1y 11rro•1nrlr f h HTS turf The HEST tean responds and the on-scene lh'uuHui r 11 1 u - y runs HTS he O O i Mont rev and ull il c ti ' H • work for hiva Ho part of the environncnt is foreign to hin cv n though the -natives- all speak spanish --- and he knous exactly uh t local resources are available to hiva to carry out his response functions Lesson Learned Having an exercise at HTS severely linits the stress placed on players i n unfavailiar surroundings ·dealing wi 'th strangers and relying on untested sources of support These are not ftinor elenents in detervaining the staying 901 1er -- and even the success -- of the HEST activities Use of HTS should therefore be considered for these exercises only as a very last resort and then only uith the clear understanding that the exerci ses nay well turn out to be nore of a gane than a serious test of all facets of the HEST capabilities HOTE Os a direct Measure of the validity of thi s lesson ToM Clark S covaparison of his experience at HTS uith what he runs i nto in Indianapolis shou1d be illuninating 7