Last week, a group of START students attended a tour and counterterrorism brief at the Pentagon in an effort to better understand how different facets of studying terrorism and combating terrorism come together in practice. The visit was coordinated by their supervisor Chris Panek, faculty research assistant for the Global Terrorism Database (GTD), and was facilitated by his wife, U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Natalia Henriquez.
Along with Panek and Henriquez, GTD Weapons and Tactics team interns Rob Denaburg and Chris Akers spent three hours touring the 17 miles of concourses and corridors in one of the world’s largest low-rise office buildings.
The day was finished with a 30-minute discussion with Rear Admiral Craig S. Faller, Chief of Legislative Affairs for the Secretary of the Navy and former Director of Operations, U.S. Central Command.
“Admiral Faller expressed the importance of the work done by START on the GTD as a contribution to counter-terrorism efforts,” Panek said. “He also offered a few pointers on managing challenges when working across cultures and disciplines and the ‘whole of government’ approach.”