Government Agencies Post 9 11 wk5 writ

Government Agencies Post 911

September 11, 2001 changed the lives of all Americans. It was a terrible attack on American soil that forever changed the nature of the modern American consciousness. However, it had much more practical implications as well in terms of how it impacted government agencies and their role in protecting American citizens from future attacks. Today, old agencies have readjusted their roles along with the formation of new agencies to step up the level of protection for American citizens, especially in terms of global transportation security.

Both old and new agencies have had to revamp their agendas in accordance with new policies adopted after the 9/11 attack shocked the nation. Many government agencies that were already in place were revamped in order to take on new responsibilities and to ensure an increase in security measures. For example, the Federal Aviation Administration was restructured in order to address the new threats in a post 9/11 world. Originally set up in the mid 20th century, the agency predominately dealt with air traffic. However, after the attack on 9/11, the agency then became responsible for increased security measures. In addition to readjusting the roles of already established agencies, new ones were established as well. For example, the Department of Homeland Security was established in order to increase protection of citizens from terrorist attacks, which differentiated its activities from the Department of Defense which works in a military context only.

In this post 9/11 world, the nature of aviation security has dramatically changed. The Federal Aviation Administration has increased its own role in global transportation security. Funding to the organization has been crucial in developing and implementing more innovative global positioning software that tracks planes all over the world. Their efforts have not only streamlined flight path practices, but have ended up saving commercial airlines millions of dollars in unnecessary fuel expenses. Additionally, after 9/11, "the FAA engineers and scientists addressed the flammability of fuel tanks by developing a practical inerting system, eventually resulting in a regulation that mandates flammability reduction in systems," (Dorr 2008). The FAA has been very crucial in research and development of systems that make airplanes safer for consumers and businesses by eliminating some of the threats that were seen in the 9/11 attacks.