The consequences of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, will continue to resonate on a policy, political, economic, environmental, educational, and personal level for generations. Traditional boundaries of cooperation and communication were transcended by a crisis in which conventional scenario planning and war gaming failed to predict. The severity and visceral nature of the attacks personalized by the tremendous loss of civilians introduced a sense of vulnerability and fear into American society. Live television coverage of the crime scenes and the seemingly endless search, first for survivors, and subsequently for victims increased those feelings. In response, policymakers across the stratum of government, military, civilian, and law enforcement organizations were compelled to react, at least initially in a unilateral fashion, due to both the urgency of the situation, and in some degree to the lack of existing interagency relationships on a broad scale.

The emergent model of Homeland Security embraces a singular definitive purpose, which is defending the United States of America from further terrorist attack. The design and implementation of a national strategy includes the centralization of literally hundreds of thousands of personnel across a myriad of agencies, with separate organizational structures, communications technology, protocols, training, and mission requirements. Success will b measured in the decentralized implementation of the strategy as a Brookings scholar noted, wherein the decisions made at the outer edges of activity, far from the nation's capital, are as crucial to the success as the decisions made at the center. Often these are the decisions that will confront law enforcement personnel and other first responders to a critical incident. Both disciplines will require additional training to recognize and react to the different dimensions of a terrorist threat. Developing the schema for interoperability between the tangible operational functions and resources may not be as difficult as designing a plan in which organizational cultures can coalesce.