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

Air Force Intelligence, United Statesit remains that way all the way to the consumer’s tap.However, these measures are not intended to thwart adeliberate act of sabotage. Many of the water treatmentand distribution systems in use around the world werebuilt decades ago. Domestic terrorism was virtually unknownat that time, and protective measures were seldompart of the system’s design. For example, surface watersupplies are often unguarded and exposed (unfenced, etc.).For large surface water supplies, the volume of wateralone makes the possibility of deliberate contaminationremote. For example, it has been estimated that the contaminationof the Crystal Springs Reservoir that suppliessome of the water for San Francisco, California with enoughhydrogen cyanide to harm anyone who drinks a glass ofwater would require over 400,000 metric tons of the poison.Similarly, huge amounts of bacteria or viruses wouldbe required.Poisoning smaller water sources, particularly afterthe water has left the treatment plant, is a more realisticpossibility. Even if the water has been chlorinated,disease causing microorganisms such as Giardia andCryptosporidium are resistant to chlorine, as are bacterialtoxins.More than 100,000 communities in the United Statesobtain their water from a community well, without thebenefit of chlorination or other treatment. Deliberate contaminationof these systems could put millions of peopleat risk.Another security risk with water supplies involves thenature of monitoring the water. As of 2002, most monitoringtechniques for living and nonliving contaminants requiresup to 24 hours. “Real time” tests are not routinelyavailable. Thus, contamination would not be detecteduntil long after people had consumed the water.Air is vulnerable to contamination with a variety ofbacteria, viruses, and fungi that are light enough to becomedispersed in air currents. When inhaled, the microbescan cause infections. Chemicals and toxins canalso float in the air, to be inhaled or settle onto exposedskin.Air purification has long been possible using filters.Bacteria, viruses, and even some inorganic chemicals canbe retained on specialized filters. These filters are mainlysuitable for laboratories or relatively small, specificallydesigned ventilation systems. In large indoor environmentssuch as malls or sizeable office buildings, and in theopen air, air purification is virtually impossible.Contamination of the open air poses a similar problemas the contamination of a large volume of water,namely the amount of poisonous agent that is required.For example, estimates are that hundreds of pounds ofanthrax spores would be needed to achieve a massivecontamination of the population of a large city.The release of toxic agents into a more limited areasuch as an office building is more plausible. Some buildingsthat are deemed to be a security risk, or which areused for research with highly infectious microbes, areEncyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Securityequipped with safeguards to prevent the spread of airborneinfectious agents or poisons. Air treatment, ventilationfilters, alarms, and the ability to isolate contaminatedzones are usually part of the designed safeguards.❚ FURTHER READING:BOOKS:Drell, S. D. The New Terror: Facing the Threat of Biologicaland Chemical Weapons. Stanford, CA: Hoover InstitutePress, 1999.Henderson, D. A., “The Looming Threat of Bioterrorism.”Science no. 283 (1999): 1279–1282.Kowalski, W. J., W. P. Bahnfleth, and T. S. Whittam.“Filtration of Airborne Microorganisms: Modeling andPrediction.”ASHRAE Transactions 105 (1999): 4–17.O’Toole, T. “Smallpox: An Attack Scenario.”EmergingInfectious Diseases 5 (1999): 540–546.SEE ALSOAir Plume and Chemical AnalysisBiological WarfareEnvironmental Issues Impact on SecurityMicrobiology: Applications to Espionage, Intelligence andSecurityWater Supply: Counter Terrorism❚ JUDSON KNIGHTAir Force Intelligence,United StatesThe intelligence-gathering efforts of the U.S. Air Forcelong predate its establishment as a separate military servicein 1947. The Air Force has conducted extensive aerialsurveillance, as well as air technical intelligence (ATI)operations—that is, the study of foreign aircraftthemselves—since the end of World War I. As time hasgone on, equipment and techniques have become moresophisticated, and involvement more widespread. Today’sAir Combat Command includes a number of intelligenceagencies.Background. The U.S. Air Force has its roots in the AeronauticalSection of the U.S. Signal Corps, founded in 1907, andrenamed the Aviation Section in 1914. This became theU.S. Army Air Service in 1918, and the Army Air Corps in1926. In 1941, on the eve of World War II, the Departmentof the Army renamed its air section the United StatesArmy Air Force. Two years after the end of World War II,the National Security Act of 1947 for the first time establishedthe Air Force as a separate military service.Throughout the twentieth century, the air servicestook part in aerial intelligence, particularly during the Cold11