ENCYCLOPEDIA OF Espionage, Intelligence, and Security Volume ...

Code NameSEE ALSOCoast Guard National Response CenterCrime Prevention, Intelligence AgenciesCustoms Service, United StatesDEA (Drug Enforcement Administration)INS (United States Immigration and Naturalization Service)NMIC (National Maritime Intelligence Center)September 11 Terrorist Attacks on the United States❚ JUDSON KNIGHTCoast Guard NationalResponse CenterThe Coast Guard National Response Center (CGNRC) isthe sole national point of contact for reports of oil spills, aswell as information regarding discharges of chemical,radiological, and biological discharges into the environment.As a unit of the Coast Guard, CGNRC is part of theDepartment of Transportation (DOT), but due to the significanceof its function, it often reports directly to thepresident of the United States. The increased terroristthreat following the attacks of September 11, 2001, haveonly served to further its importance as part of the homelandsecurity apparatus.The federal government advises individuals who observeoil spills, or evidence of oil spills, in or around theUnited States, to report that information to CGNRC. Thelatter will dispatch on-scene coordinators to collect data,and will serve as a liaison for the U.S. National ResponseTeam (NRT). However, the responsibilities and purview ofCGNRC extend far beyond the functions one normallyassociates with the Coast Guard. Not only is CGNRC theprincipal point of contact regarding oil spills, the same istrue with regard to chemical, radiological (having to dowith nuclear radiation), biological, and etiological (involvingdisease) hazards as well.Working with other departments and agencies. CGNRC assistsa vast array of government departments, agencies, andadministrations in myriad ways. For the Federal EmergencyManagement Agency, for instance, it acts as acontact point on reports of natural disasters and the evacuationsassociated with them. The Federal Railroad Administration(FRA) depends on its 24-hour Rail EmergencyHotline, which receives and disseminates information onhazards ranging from railroad accidents to the refusal ofrailroad employees to undergo drug testing. CGNRC assiststhe Department of Defense (DoD) by recording transportationincidents or anomalies involving DoD explosivesor other sensitive materials, while the Department ofthe Interior relies on CGNRC to receive reports of incidentsinvolving Trans-Alaskan Pipeline Oil.Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and SecurityIn addition to regularly briefing the secretary of Transportationand the chiefs of modal administrations (e.g.,the FRA) regarding transportation emergencies, CGNRCalso conducts briefings for the White House and the Departmentof Homeland Security. In the aftermath of the 9–11terrorist attacks, the federal government has urged civilianswitnessing any suspicious activity around rivers andwaterways to report this information to CGNRC. Accordingto the New Orleans Times-Picayune in November2002, “Activities that should be reported include unusualfilming, hunting or fishing in unusual areas, lights flashingbetween boats and the shore, ship crew members recoveringor tossing things into the water, and divers enteringthe water near docks or bridges.” Numbers for contactingCGNRC are provided at its Web site, listed below.❚ FURTHER READING:PERIODICALS:Darce, Keith. “Port Still Vulnerable, Its Chief Says.” Times-Picayune. (New Orleans, LA) (November 20, 2002): 1.Kreuzer, Heidi. “Westchester Incident Highlights Oil SpillConcerns.” Pollution Engineering 33, no. 1 (January2001): 9–10.ELECTRONIC:Coast Guard National Response Center. (January 22, 2003).U.S. National Response Team. (January 22, 2003).SEE ALSOCoast Guard (USCG), United StatesHomeland Security, United States DepartmentNational Response Team, United StatesCode NameA code name is a word or phrase used to refer secretly to aspecific person, group, project, or plan of action. Individualspies and large-scale military operations are oftenreferred to by code names to protect their identity. Forexample, the code name for the United States’ project toproduce an atomic bomb during World War II was ”ManhattanProject,“ the codename for the U.S. plan to invadeOkinawa on April 1, 1945 was ”Iceberg,“ the Nazi Germanplan to invade England had the code name ”OperationSea Lion,“ and the code name of Spanish double agentJuan Pujol Garcia, who spied for the British while pretendingto spy for the Nazis, was ”Garbo.“ So common is theuse of code names that an entire book has been devoted tocataloguing the code names used during World War II.223