We recently had the privilege of speaking with UMUC alumnus Thomas J. Lockwood, deputy director of the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security that Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. created by executive order in June 2003. Lockwood spoke with us about Maryland’s importance in the national capital region, which includes Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. Some consider the region exemplary of the increasing coordination among multiple government and public safety agencies.

Before joining Ehrlich’s administration, Lockwood was a Brookings Institute Legislative Fellow to then-Congressman Ehrlich and held various management positions in the Navy’s Virginia Nuclear Submarine Program. Lockwood also served as a civilian in the Department of the Navy.

Earning his Master of Science in technology management from UMUC in 1995, Lockwood is also a graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Business, Defense Systems Management College, and National Defense University. He lives in Arnold, Maryland, with his wife, Regina, and their three children.

Homeland Security Borders: Today’s Gray Lines

By Andrea Martino

Thomas J. Lockwood

September 11, 2001, changed everything. But for the U.S. armed forces—already trained to expect the unexpected—the 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, the 1996 bombing of Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, and the al Qaeda attacks on two embassies in Africa in 1998, served as advance warning.

Flight attendants were already concerned, too, according to UMUC alumna Judy Rowe, who spoke of fears inside the aircraft long before September 11.

While the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995 was horrific, perhaps that was just a freak incident and no real cause for alarm—or reason to change. But did we forget the 1993 car bomb in the World Trade Center garage?

Why didn’t we make the connection before?

September 11, 2001, did, indeed, change everything. It made us realize that terrorists’ targets of choice need not necessarily be men and women in the military, federal targets, or U.S. holdings overseas. Now, civilians going about their daily lives—on U.S. shores—had reason to be afraid. Will we ever forget the faces of the lost souls desperately searching for their loved ones at Ground Zero, firefighters rushing up the stairs of the twin towers before they collapsed like tinder boxes, and the sounds of bagpipes at countless heroes’ funerals?

“Homeland security is extremely personal, touching the human response of fight or flight,” said Tom Lockwood, deputy director of Maryland’s Office of Homeland Security. “One’s immediate concern is ‘Am I safe? Are the things in life that I care about safe? Are my loved ones, family, neighborhood, church, or temple safe? Or do I need to move them out of the way?’”

Here in the national capital region, where citizens are perhaps more conscious of government agencies than in other areas in the country, the lines of jurisdiction are rapidly fading, said Lockwood.

“When you pick up the phone to dial 911, you want help fast,” he said. “Not only do you want it, you expect it. It is something extremely transparent, and no matter what your emergency might now entail, when you call for help, you don’t need to say, ‘I need a virologist or an epidemiologist.’ You need help and you should get it.”

While the creation of new government agencies—such as the mammoth Department of Homeland Security—may seem intimidating to some, Lockwood says it is different in Maryland. Under the Ehrlich administration, the Office of Homeland Security consists of just four individuals.

“We are a process, not a function of government,” said Lockwood. “In state government, the police, transportation, health, emergency management, and medical services all play a role in homeland security, and we work with them every day.

“It is a very, very active job,” Lockwood continued. “There are many organizations involved in homeland security and they are all over the state.”

Regarding September 11, Lockwood said that that tragedy made a number of people reevaluate assumptions about their daily lives.

“Unless there is a driver to change culture, it is very difficult. September 11 was a shock event that occurred in our culture, and our culture changed. It is a challenge, because people are saying, “Yes, we knew there were interoperability problems before,’ but now they are saying, ‘Solve them and solve them now.’”

However, homeland security concerns all hazards, including natural disasters. Lockwood points to the devastation caused by Hurricane Isabel and takes pride in the efforts of first responders and support teams to protect Marylanders and support their recovery from that devastating storm. He cites the SARS epidemic and wonders if U.S. citizens consider the nation lucky that the seriousness of the epidemic was not felt here.

“It was not luck,” he said, smiling. “It was preparedness. We work very hard behind the scenes. Our goal is to be the best because we have to be.”