ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —Police in Afghanistan are among the many to benefit from Sandia National Laboratories’ co-sponsorship of the 6th annual Homeland Security Conference, set for Oct. 15-17 at the Albuquerque Marriott Hotel, 2101 Louisiana Boulevard N.E.
“A lot of information is shared at the international level,” says Ron Fernstedt, retired Utah deputy sheriff and former Special Forces officer, who has worked for the past three years as an advisor/mentor to the Provincial Chiefs of Police in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Thanks to the conference, he has helped teach a Kabul provincial chief about how to best protect and patrol borders.
Sandia is a National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) laboratory.
“Terrorism is an information-age problem. Our main advantage, if we have any, is to share information from conferences as best practices,” Fernstedt says. He will be among the presenters at this year’s conference.
Other speakers will include Henry Crumpton, ex-CIA operative and former U.S. State Department terror coordinator, and Thomas S. Davidson II, a senior military intelligence analyst and expert on border and security issues.
Topics include:
- Identifying and discussing emerging threats,
- Highlighting cutting edge technological resources,
- Developing interdisciplinary partnerships,
- Interoperable communications, and international gangs.
“This conference is important because it brings together people who have different pieces of the terrorism puzzle. We share resources and expertise to help cover each other because we have common interests and problems,” said Dr. Robert Bunker, who attends the annual conference.
He is an Los Angeles.-based adjunct professor in National Security Studies Program at California State University-San Bernardino and a professor of unconventional warfare at the American Military University in Manassas Park, Va. “This conference is a great venue for reaching out because you can gain important knowledge outside your operational area.”