Today marks the 25th anniversary since the founding of the Terrorism Research Center. I think I captured the continuing legacy of the TRC well in my 20th anniversary note, so sharing below for broader distribution.
Twenty years. If you had told me twenty years ago that an initiative with two friends over an elk dinner would be measuring its impact in decades, I’d have thought your perspective to be a bit ambitious. Yet here we are, twenty years later and the Terrorism Research Center legacy is still having an immeasurable influence on our homeland and international security.
Many of the TRC initiatives from the past decade are still having a self-sustaining impact as official programs within DHS and other organizations. Nearly 15 years of analysis and insight informed several generations of security professionals, government officials, academics, and the general public. During the most precarious time in counterterrorism history our team was there; ready, able, and willing to join the fight. We innovated new solutions prior to and after September 11th. Solutions like the Responder Knowledge Base, the Terrorism Early Warning Group network, Project Pediatric Preparedness, Terror Web Watch, Terrorism.com database, and the Mirror Image and T4 training.
It is rare that I attend an event where I don’t get some thanks or recognition from someone who was impacted in a positive way by the TRC. The flag that flew over the U.S. Capital in our honor is one of my most prized possessions.
By my last count we’ve got TRC alumni in the CIA, FBI, State Department, DHS, DIA, and dozens of other notable organizations. We have former employees, whom after interacting with the First Responder community, were inspired to become First Responders themselves and are now saving lives every day in their communities. We have employees who met at TRC, fell in love, and are now producing TRC offspring. Talk about “next generation”….
I am humbled by the team’s past and current accomplishments. I am excited for what you will achieve in the future. At the end of the day, the world is a much better place for the TRC having existed and that is the greatest achievement of all.
Matt Devost
Terrorism Research Center Co-Founder, President and CEO
April 19, 2016