One of the lessons learned in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 is the need to properly guard against intentional as well as unintentional threats to the nation's food supply and be prepared to respond if they happen. President George W. Bush initiated the development of a National Incident Management System (NIMS), which is now in place.

The centerpiece of NIMS is the Incident Command System (ICS), which was originally developed in 1970 by the Forest Service to deal with wildfires. ICS, simply put, is a cooperative effort that gives responders at all levels of government one unified structure in which to operate. Jurisdictional barriers are overcome in order to deal with threats or an incident. The basic principle is that every disaster is local, even though it might be national in scale.

The ICS is so effective that five Forest Service ICS teams were in place the morning of September 12, 2001--three in New York City and two at the Pentagon.

I had the opportunity about three weeks later to visit some of the Forest Service teams who were in New York City, and I think that the deputy chief of the fire department in New York City said it best when he told me, "I never could have imagined that we, the Fire Department of New York, would be working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture." But he went on to say, "We could not have handled this situation without you."

Forest Service ICS teams also were called into action during the recovery of the Space Shuttle Columbia.

Yet ICS is not limited to the Forest Service. That is why USDA's Homeland Security Office has worked the past year and a half to develop ICS training for employees, which you can find at www.golearn.gov. Not only will this training enhance our emergency response and support capabilities, but it will also strengthen our homeland security at the federal, state, and local levels. Every employee is essential to building the kind of coordinated and prepared workforce that is so critical to USDA's prevention and response network.

Ongoing training in our response mechanisms will enhance our ability to help carry out USDA functions as we deal with critical issues and potential threats to our food and agriculture supply. Employee ICS training will make USDA a better and more effective department. Thanks in advance for strengthening your personal readiness on behalf of USDA and the public we serve. •