From 2-4 April the Combating Terrorism Center took 17 cadets to Washington D.C. for an introduction into interagency operations and national level CT policy. On Thursday, cadets had the opportunity to visit the National Security Council at the White House where they engaged with Ms. Jen Easterly, the Special Assistant to the President for Countering Terrorism, and Mr. Jeff Prescott, the Deputy National Security Adviser to the Vice President. At the Treasury Department, cadets discussed counterterrorism financing with Danny Glaser, the Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing, before linking up with the Deputy Director for the FBI, Mark Guilano.
On Friday the cadets started at Foggy Bottom, meeting a number of key leaders in the State Department, including the Deputy Coordinator for CT, Mark Thompson followed by an in-depth discussion with Ambassador Alberto Fernandez on strategic communications in a connected world. The cadets spent Friday afternoon at the National Counterterrorism Center where they engaged with Vice Admiral LeFever and Director Matt Olsen on the challenges of coordinating CT operations before conducting a tour of the operations center.
