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Student Spotlight
As a former Anti-Terrorism and Force Protection training and program manager for the United States Air Force’s Air Mobility Command; this course raised the bar in quality and breadth of instruction. Using a building block approach this course first started with the history and motivations of terrorism. After learning from history, we explored the various regions of the globe, and examined groups that are familiar to the obscure. The course continued with an in-depth examination of terrorist weapons, tactics, techniques, and procedures. Finally, the course covered various methods/ideas for the suppression of terrorism. If suppression fails, we examined a variety of elite counter terrorism units that can offer “active service” against terrorists, and surgically eliminate their threats. The two textbooks for this course were outstanding! These books will proudly sit on my reference library for years to come. Not only were the textbooks comprehensive, they were a joy to read as well. I wish more courses offered books as fine as these.
- AMU StudentI have learned much more than I expected about the history and evolution of terrorism. I also developed and understanding about the various sponsors of terrorism and their motivations, as well as anti-terrorism versus counter-terrorism measures. My degree pursuit is Criminal Justice, but my ultimate focus of study is terrorism/counter terrorism. I want to understand terrorism in order to support law enforcement in defending us from it, and eradicating it from society. I believe that to succeed, we must understand the cause and study the history. I expected to learn much about terrorism, but this course exceeded my expectations.
I have learned much more than I expected about the history and evolution of terrorism. I also developed and understanding about the various sponsors of terrorism and their motivations, as well as anti-terrorism versus counter-terrorism measures. My degree pursuit is Criminal Justice, but my ultimate focus of study is terrorism/counter terrorism. I want to understand terrorism in order to support law enforcement in defending us from it, and eradicating it from society. I believe that to succeed, we must understand the cause and study the history. I expected to learn much about terrorism, but this course exceeded my expectations.I have learned much more than I expected about the history and evolution of terrorism. I also developed and understanding about the various sponsors of terrorism and their motivations, as well as anti-terrorism versus counter-terrorism measures. My degree pursuit is Criminal Justice, but my ultimate focus of study is terrorism/counter terrorism. I want to understand terrorism in order to support law enforcement in defending us from it, and eradicating it from society. I believe that to succeed, we must understand the cause and study the history. I expected to learn much about terrorism, but this course exceeded my expectations.I have learned much more than I expected about the history and evolution of terrorism. I also developed and understanding about the various sponsors of terrorism and their motivations, as well as anti-terrorism versus counter-terrorism measures. My degree pursuit is Criminal Justice, but my ultimate focus of study is terrorism/counter terrorism. I want to understand terrorism in order to support law enforcement in defending us from it, and eradicating it from society. I believe that to succeed, we must understand the cause and study the history. I expected to learn much about terrorism, but this course exceeded my expectations.This course has broadened my understanding of terrorism, which helps me to contribute this knowledge towards developing physical security and anti-terrorism measures. It also contributes towards my future career aspirations to support the law enforcement community. This subject is my selected area of concentration. I have gained knowledge, developed understanding, and my successful course completion brings me closer to completing my degree, which ultimately will help me advance my career goals.
- AMU StudentThe course has more than met my expectations. As a Security Forces Technical Sergeant (the U.S. Air Force's equivalent to Military Police) in Michigan's Air-National Guard the course objectives are very relevant in today's military.
Obviously with the ongoing War on Terror and the latest strikes in England and Egypt the threat is still very real. Anti-Terrorism measures and Threat Assessments are part of our every day duties as the primary security and law enforcement presence on air bases around the world. My career field is also highly deployable so the more we know about the different types of terrorist motives, leadership, victims, targets, objectives, negotiation and tactics the better prepared we'll be to do the job in forward locations like Iraq, Afghanistan and else where. I found the United Nations text book on Global Terrorism indispensable. They way it breaks down the history of terrorism and it's evolution from guerilla war were very easy to understand and retain. The case studies were also very valuable because they showed many of the terms and learning objectives in action.
- AMU StudentSince I am pursuing a degree in Intelligence Studies, with a concentration in Terrorism, Global Terrorism (CJ319) is almost custom tailored to the objectives of my degree. The reading materials were more informative than I expected. The course looked at terrorism with a broad scope and helped me to examine facets of terrorism usually overlooked in military courses. The attention CJ319 gave to the different types of terrorism (domestic, international, transnational) and the examination of terrorism from various points of view (criminological, legislative, historical, moral and social) helped in the basic understanding of terrorism.
I am an active duty Marine assigned to a United States Embassy. In today’s world any course on terrorism would benefit my career. Taking CJ319 increased my knowledge and understanding of terrorism. CJ319 was the first college course I have taken concerning terrorism and was a good course to take to give an academic knowledge base for future terrorist related college courses.
- AMU StudentI believe this class will help me with my job needs. As an assistant to the Armed Forces Office of the Medical Examiner – Associate M.E. for Alaska, I can potentially be called to the scene of a terrorist attack. By having a heightened knowledge of the subject of terrorism, I feel this will help me both with initial scene evaluation and self protection (for example, being aware of the tendency of terrorists to plant secondary explosives to hit responders). I also have a clearer idea of what to look for in terms of evidence retrieval during post-mortem examinations.
- AMU Student
This course was one of the core-required electives needed to satisfy the requirements for my Bachelor’s degree in Intelligence Studies with a concentration in Terrorism. Over the last eight weeks, I have attained a considerable of knowledge from the vast amounts of information provided from the course. Since I am pursuing a degree in terrorism with a follow-on career in counter-terrorism after I retire from the Navy, I am more than satisfied with the material covered in this course, as well as all of the material provided. During the duration of this course, we covered the a wide-range of topics to include the origins, definitions, history, categories, weapons, tactics, organizations, legislative responses, international responses, and effects of media coverage of terrorism. I can honestly say I am much more knowledgeable on the topic of global terrorism and I look forward to utilizing this knowledge in future courses through AMU and in my civilian employment upon retirement from active duty.The two books provided by AMU, Terrorism Today, The Past, The Present, The Future, and the Global Terrorism course guide for this course were vital in meeting course objectives and completing the various course examinations. Both books were organized logically to give the student a clear and concise understanding of terrorism around the world and how it can impact the future of global security and peace.
The newsgroup and research paper assignments were challenging and provided me with a broader appreciation of other students’ perspectives on terrorism and also honed my research abilities. The course examinations were spaced appropriately to provide enough time to comprehend the course readings and the questions were easily understood.
The instructor is fully engaged in the course and online classroom. His knowledge and experience was a tremendous asset to this course. The Daily Briefs provided via email were informative and appreciated. Professor Medhurst was always quick to respond to question via email and provided feedback on assignments within an acceptable time period.
Time will tell just how much this course will help me in acquiring employment in the counter-terrorism field. However, it has significantly raised my level of awareness of the motivations behind terrorist acts, the Al Qa’ida network, and the challenges facing every country in regards to defeating terrorism.
- AMU StudentI was very pleased with the overall course and really don’t have any negative comments. I have enjoyed the online experience and find that the flexibility it offers coincides with my alternate work schedule. The textbook was extremely useful and will be used in my daily work. It was current, and identified the daily operations of the aviation sector completely. The additional reading assignments and course references reinforced the learning and met the objectives of the course.
The course exceeded my expectations in that it has better equipped me to fulfill my daily duties as a Federal Employee. With my major in transportation management and the concentration in transportation security, this course, along with my remaining 3 classes, will mold me with the skills to be a security professional and to be able to articulate the industry best practices to those associations within the aviation industry.This course has created a foundation for me to further my understanding and my experience with aviation security. The regulations, laws, and industry standards are all building blocks that were instilled in me as key components of a good security plan. I truly enjoyed the course and intend on taking additional classes to gain a better understanding about security.
- AMU StudentResearch Methods in Security Management has been an eye-opening course. The past 8 weeks have led the class down the road towards better understanding how to plan and conduct research. The course and curriculum also taught us to evaluate research performed by others for proper design and methods. I apprehensively enrolled in RC505 merely because it is a program requirement. To my benefit, I have obtained skills and knowledge that I am certain will assist me in the future. The concepts, delivery of curriculum and coursework were all very effective in imparting the course objectives.
The objectives for this course were a very basic understanding of the principles of research design. While I always felt I had a solid grasp of how research was performed, as we progressed through the objectives I realized how little I really knew. Cause and effect is a fundamental concept that most people understand. Causality as it applies to research is much more complex and imperative. Validity threats and the methods for mitigating them were completely brand new concepts to me. Units of measurement and analysis as well as the reliability and validity issues were items that I had never considered before. It was kind of funny that during the second week of the course I was discussing the class with my wife. I was “complaining” to her about the stuff we were studying and explaining the concepts to her. I was completely unaware how much beneficial knowledge I had already obtained. I’m certain this was because the objectives were challenging and comprehensive, yet not overwhelming. I truly felt as though the course layout really enhanced the learning process.
The coursework and curriculum for RC505 are very well designed. The text introduces general overviews of concepts early on and then builds on them as it adds more pieces of the puzzle with each chapter. The only downside was the length of many chapters in the text. Reading assignments weren’t excessive with only two chapters due per week, but I found that I had to “take it in bites” as digesting a 30+ page chapter in one sitting was difficult at best. Writing assignments were appropriate and well-defined with the lesson that was posted in Assignments always assisting with comprehending the topic. Tests and quizzes encompassed all knowledge that was required and seemed to ask questions from all material. While I feel as though I had a firm grasp of the concepts required to plan and perform quality research I still found the research project to be an extremely challenging assignment. I am certain that the challenge added to my skills and be beneficial in the future.
I have many courses left in my Security Management program. Throughout those courses I will undoubtedly be faced with the need to review and evaluate research performed by others. In addition, I will most likely have to either develop or perform research of one type of another. The abilities I attained in this course will greatly enhance my ability to meet those requirements. While I am not as competent as a research professional, I have acquired the basic knowledge of the fundamentals that will enable me do well. Having the basis will allow me to feel confident that I have the ability to perform the task. I do not expect to retain all of the information I learned throughout this course. However, knowing research fundamentals will enable me to know where to go for more information on how to properly plan, perform or evaluate research. I am looking forward to the opportunity to utilize what I have learned as I work through my Security Management program with American Military University.
- AMU StudentI thoroughly enjoyed the course. I was a little unnerved in the beginning because of the references to Aristotle, Kant, Mill, Bentham, etc. I thought this was going to be a repeat of the boring undergrad philosophy and ethics course I took some years ago – but that wasn’t the case. The course was challenging and really made me aware of some of the unsavory things that are happening today in the criminal justice system, and more specifically, the law enforcement community. Although I hear about these things everyday, it never hit home because the problem always belonged to somebody else.
I also enjoyed the news group assignments and doing research for the term paper. It’s been sometime since I’ve been actively involved in an “investigation” so it was fun getting back into the field, so to speak, and digging up the materials and evidence that I needed to write the paper.
When I began working on my research paper it seemed like the floodgates opened. I couldn’t pick up a paper, trade magazine, watch the news, or talk with peer administrators in other agencies and departments without hearing at least one reference (although usually several) about allegations of police misconduct and inappropriate behavior. The more research I did, the more prevalent the problem seemed to become. I’m sure this wasn’t the case, it simply happened because my focus at the time was on this particular subject matter. Still, there seems to be more inappropriate behavior occurring today than in the past.
With that in mind and with this course serving as the basis for action, I ordered a reexamination of our hiring and promotional standards, as well as a review of certain aspects of our in-service training program. This has resulted in several key recommendations being approved for implementation, including new written, oral, and psychological examinations that will place greater emphasis on ethical behavior. Our Professional Standards Unit (training) is developing a new block of training that will be implemented in 2006. The new program will place significantly more emphasis on police professionalism and ethical conduct. So, to answer the question, yes, the course has helped me achieve a career goal by making me much more aware of the pitfalls that can beset a professional law enforcement agency when the wrong people are hired and promoted. With the new programs that will soon be in place, I will be much better positioned to ensure that only the most qualified applicants who meet the highest standards of professionalism and who are committed to the ethical goals of the agency, will be hired and promoted.
There was nothing that I disliked about the class. I thought it was well managed from both an academic and technical standpoint. The questions that I had early on were answered promptly and to my satisfaction. The materials and assignments were appropriate for the course. The only suggestion that I would offer for possibly improving the course, is to have one or two mandatory chat sessions between the students. This was a course requirement in another class that I took and it seemed to have a positive effect on the students.
To summarize, the course was more than I expected it would be. I found the assignments challenging and the course materials appropriate. There were both personal and career goals achieved by taking the class. More importantly, it reminded me just how interconnected and dependant we are on one another in this often difficult and troubled world.
- AMU Student
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