Over the course of 43 years, Wendall Gilbert has become accustomed to facing adverse conditions and producing positive results.
As a private in the U.S. Army, Gilbert spent the first part of his service fighting the nation’s battles in foreign lands.
Climbing the ranks to brigadier general, he spent the majority of his military career playing a leading role in preparing the world’s most powerful military machine to strike at the enemies of this nation at a moment’s notice.
However, as the recently appointed director of Homeland Security for Tennessee, Gilbert’s efforts are now focused on an entirely new element of “security and defense.” Now, Gilbert must prepare and protect the citizens of Tennessee against a faceless foe that he says poses one of the greatest national security threats in this nation’s history.
“It’s in our own backyard. ... And we are doing what we need to do to deter anyone from doing harm to the citizens of this state,” Gilbert said.
Following the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush appropriated $19.5 billion to be used for the sole purpose of closing the gaping holes in homeland national defenses that were exposed after the attacks.
Since then, Tom Ridge, who was appointed the national director of homeland defenses, has called for every state to appoint a homeland director to better facilitate the daunting task of coordinating all law enforcement agencies to solidify defense efforts.
“We are moving forward to attain the proper resources to increase the capability of responding and preventing terrorist attacks, but there is still much to be worked out,” Gilbert said.
While spending on homeland security has grown from $9 billion in 1993 to a projected $37.7 billion in 2003, it’s still unclear how the federal dollars will be distributed from state to state and from county to county. Also unclear is how much states will invest in homeland security.
Gilbert said it is likely that more federal dollars will go to locations that are considered as having “elements that involve high terrorism risk factors,” such as New York and D.C., and border states such as Texas, with a high influx of immigrants.
While there has been little mention of new developments regarding terrorist activity in most U.S. cities, Memphis has recently been placed at the epicenter of investigations linked to possible terrorist activity.
In a report issued by federal researchers in October, Tennessee ranked relatively low as a probable target for terrorists, but recent events involving “mysterious circumstances” have thrust the state and city into the national spotlight as a place with apparent ties to terrorist activity.
One of the most recent reasons for such an investigation is the fiery death of Memphis license examiner Katherine Smith, who was found dead in her charred car on U.S. Highway 72 after being linked to a scheme involving the illegal sale of Tennessee drivers licenses to five Middle Eastern men.
The incident, which is still being investigated, prompted lawmakers to discuss repealing a law passed last year that relaxed the statutes for immigrants to attain a valid Tennessee driver’s license without a social security number.
“It is a major problem, because a license is a portal for validation,” said Gilbert.
Tennessee is one of four states that allow people access to a driver’s license without a social security card.
In addition, two men reportedly approached University of Memphis professors in recent weeks, seeking information on nuclear physics and bridge construction and offering a “substantial sum of money” for the requested information.
A federal investigation is still pending in the case.
Though not linked to terrorist activity, the death of renowned microbiologist Don C. Wiley, who was killed after falling 135 feet from the Hernando Desoto Bridge in Memphis, attracted national attention due to his knowledge in the field of biological weapons and his death occurring at the height of the anthrax scare.
His death was ruled accidental by federal authorities, but those authorities said they are still not certain how Wiley fell.
While President Bush has made a substantial investment in law enforcement agencies at all levels, there remains a question of how the money will be distributed and if there will be a cost-sharing agreement between state and federal governments.
Gov. Don Sundquist has asked state legislators to spend an additional $8 million in state funding to provide more training, manpower and equipment for the states law enforcement agencies, but it has yet to be approved by state lawmakers.
While most states have laid the financial blueprint to fund state security, the unexpected cost of homeland security, coupled with the current budget crisis raging through the general assembly, has put Tennessee in a dilemma.
Some lawmakers said plans are in place to streamline appropriations from other areas of the budget to cover the cost, but others said the money is just not there.
While the federal dollars will first be channeled through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the bulk of the federal funding is expected to be allotted to localized law enforcement agencies.
Kurt Pickering, public information officer for the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, said current estimates suggest that each county in Tennessee will receive $20,000 for the sole purpose of combating terrorism.
“The people on the front lines of defense are our nations police officers and firefighters, and we need to address their needs,” Gilbert said.
Given the huge scope of elements that law enforcement agencies must deal with in tracking terrorist activity, George Bolds, spokesperson for the FBI office in Memphis, said that every dollar tapped for the purpose of homeland security is a dollar well spent.
Bolds said the mass volume of calls and subsequent investigations in the months following Sept. 11 have stretched the agency’s resources.
“We received thousands of calls, with varying levels of credibility and relevancy, in Memphis,” Bolds said. “We have just had to prioritize each case.”
Bolds said there is also an effort to coordinate intelligence gathered by federal authorities in order to more thoroughly address security concerns and investigate those who pose the greatest risk to national security.
In the past, federal agencies such as the Central Intelligence Agency and FBI have been criticized for the lack of “information sharing” that led to the two agencies sometimes independently compiling information on the same subject, according to Bolds.
While Bolds said leads regarding terrorist activity have dramatically dropped in the last two months, the federal authorities continue to “chase down leads” connected to the Sept. 11 attacks.
While Tennessee currently ranks No. 10 in crimes committed nationwide, Gilbert said the money will not be used to curb domestic crime.
“If nothing happens, then that is great. But we have to systematically go after the people who pose the greatest threat,” Gilbert said.
