During the past year, researchers have been using the Warfare Analysis Laboratory at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, tucked in the countryside of southern Howard County, to play what-if games about terrorism.
Sitting in a war room with large projection screens, they used the computer-networked facility to work through simulated disaster scenarios triggered by dirty bombs, chemical spills, suicide bombers and a nuclear device.
Among the participants were senior leaders from city, state, federal and military organizations, Hopkins officials have said. The intent is to prepare the Johns Hopkins medical establishment - including Howard County General Hospital - to deal with potential terrorist-triggered mass casualties in the Baltimore region.
"The goal is a strong, flexible plan for disaster response that integrates the capabilities and resources of the Hopkins enterprise with those of local, regional and federal agencies. We hope our work will help other metropolitan centers and health care systems develop plans of their own and [that] the result will be a significant contribution to homeland security," said Dr. Christine Catlett, deputy director of Critical Event Preparedness and Response at Johns Hopkins.
The terrorism planning exercises are one of an array of homeland security research efforts under way at the APL, a 365-acre, nonprofit government research and development complex.
That work and increased security consciousness that followed last year's terrorist attacks are about to produce a significant change in the look and feel of the APL campus, west of U.S. 29, south of Columbia.
Early next month, Long Fence, a large commercial and residential fencing company, will break ground and begin construction of a set of protective fences designed to increase APL security.
"New security threats in the post Sept. 11 era" coupled with growth in employment and traffic "have forced us to reconsider our physical security," Dee E. Reese, APL public affairs director, said in an interview last week.
"We want to make the complex look a little less inviting to trespassers," Reese said.
A new perimeter fence will be made of ornamental wrought iron, and will run about 10 feet from the roadside along Johns Hopkins and Sanner roads.
"We try to maintain the open campus look and feel. That's why the fence will be decorative," Reese said. "It's also important that visitors feel secure when they visit."
A more serious interior chain-link fence will be 8 feet high and lie largely out of public view.
The fences will be a key element in a new three-tiered security system that will allow managers to control access to the APL during periods of increased security.
At the highest stage of alert, APL Director Richard Roca could decide to lock down the research facility's exits and entrances, according to Mark Kendall of RTKL Associates Inc., a Baltimore consulting firm.
RTKL was hired to assess APL's security risks after the terrorist attacks Sept. 11 last year. Kendall managed the APL security review and helped frame the proposal for increased protection that followed.
APL clearly would be an attractive target for anyone interested in learning more about America's national security efforts. In the current fiscal year, 3,200 civilian researchers on the campus are spending $540 million on 400 research programs. Most of the work is financed by the government and much of it is focused on national defense.
"Most of our projects are classified in nature," said Reese.
Nearly half of the lab's research is performed for the Navy, according to Reese. Other clients include the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Protestors opposed to defense spending gather for demonstrations outside the complex a few times a year, but Reese said that was not a determining factor in building the fence.
Construction of the protective screens is expected to take about six months. Howard County's Department of Planning and Zoning received the fence proposal Sept. 23 and approved it Oct. 2.