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Corrugated Metals Homeland Security Division resources
Overview
Glossary
Metalith anti-ram vehicle and blast mitigation barriers - resources photo
Corrugated Metals Homeland Security Division - glossary photo

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Perimeter security glossary

To help site visitors understand physical security terms and terms associated with explosive devices, Infrastructure Defense Technologies has included this one-of-a-kind cross linked glossary. The glossary is organized as an alpha listing to enable visitors to quickly find the term being looked for.

Numeric | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K
L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | WXYZ

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12 FAH 5

Designation for the Department of State's Foreign Affairs Handbook.

6055.9

See DoD Directive 6055.9 Ammunition and Explosives Safety Standards.

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A-1 Revetment

Physical barriers and walls used by the military to protect human and equipment assets from explosions, shrapnel, and blast waves using dirt or sand filled metal walls. The A-1 revetment is 12' tall. See B-1 Revetment, Corrugated Metal Revetment, Revetment.

Abatement

The process of reducing or minimizing public health dangers and nuisances, usually supported by regulation or legislation, e.g., noise abatement, smoke abatement.

Access Control

A method of restricting the movement of persons into or within a protected area by manual (guards), hardware (locks and keys), or software (electronic card or biometric readers) or any combination of barriers, gates, electronic security equipment, and/or guards that can deny entry to unauthorized personnel or vehicles. See Biometric Readers, Controlled Perimeters, Perimeter Defenses.

Access Control Point

A station at an entrance to a building or a portion of a building where identification is checked and people and hand-carried items are searched. See Access Control, Access Controls.

Access Control System

Also referred to as an electronic entry control system; an electronic system that controls entry and egress from a building or area.

Access Controls

Procedures and controls that limit or detect access to minimum essential infrastructure resource elements (people, technology, applications, data and/or facilities), thereby protecting these resources against loss of integrity, confidentiality accountability and/or availability.

Access Road

Any roadway such as a maintenance, delivery, service, emergency or other special limited use road that is necessary for the operation of a building or structure.

Accident

An unanticipated event, commonly leading to injury, in traffic, the workplace, or a domestic or recreational setting. Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that the risk of accidents is often predictable; they are therefore preventable.

Actinide

Are radioactive elements with an atomic number larger than 88.

Active Barriers

Materials or systems, which must be command or sensor activated to prevent or impede unauthorized passage. See Anti-Ram Vehicle Barriers, Passive Barriers.

Active Vehicle Barrier

An impediment placed at an access control point which may be manually or automatically deployed in response to detection of a threat. See Active Barriers.

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Advanced Life Support (ALS)

Medical procedures performed by emergency medical technicians-paramedics that include the advanced diagnosis and protocol-driven treatment of a patient in the field. See Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic.

Advanced Operations Base (AOB)

(DoD) In special operations, a small temporary base established near or within a joint special operations area to command, control, and/or support training or tactical operations. Facilities are normally austere. The base may be ashore or afloat. If ashore, it may include an airfield or unimproved airstrip, a pier, or an anchorage. An advanced operations base is normally controlled and/or supported by a main operations base or a forward operations base. Also referred to by its acronym - AOB. See Forward Operations Base.

Agency

An agency is a division of government with a specific function or non-governmental organization (e.g., private contractor, business, etc.) that offers a particular kind of assistance. Agencies are often defined as jurisdictional (having statutory responsibility for incident mitigation) or assisting and/or cooperating (providing resources and/or assistance).

Aggressor

Any person seeking to compromise a function or structure.

Air Blast

An airborne shock wave resulting from the detonation of explosives. See Blast, Blast Wave, Shock Wave.

Air Blast Injury

Military and civilian personnel can be picked up and thrown by a blast. They receive their injuries upon landing. The extent of the injuries will depend upon the velocity of the body's movement, the nature of the object with which the body collides, and the nature of impact, whether glancing or solid. See Blast, Blast Wave, Shock Wave.

Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency (AFCESA)

The Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency traces its history back to 1966. In that year, the demands of newly-formed civil engineering mobility forces, Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force (BEEF) and Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron, Engineer (RED HORSE), led to the formation of the Civil Engineering Construction Operations Group (CECOG) at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. The new organization was a field extension of the Directorate of Civil Engineering, HQ USAF. CECOG's 50 personnel were given responsibility for monitoring, coordinating, and reporting Prime BEEF and RED HORSE activities, particularly in the area of civil engineering equipment.

Today, AFCESA, a field operating agency, provides products and services in seven major product areas: readiness; training; vehicles and equipment; management practices; automation support; Engineering Support; and research, development and acquisition. The agency has five directorates: Operations Support, Engineering Support, Contingency Support; and Civil Engineer Maintenance, Inspection and Repair Team - CEMIRT - Field Support. The Business Operations Staff rounds out the team. See Prime BEEF, RED HORSE.

Airborne

Carried by or through the air.

Airburst

A warhead or shell set to explode above the ground to maximize the area of effect. See Explosion.

AK 47 / AK 74

Automat Klashnikova, or Automatic Kalashnikov. The most widely used automatic rifle line in the world, Russian-designed.

Alarm Procedure

A means of alerting concerned parties to a disaster. Various optical and acoustical means of alarm are available, including flags, lights, sirens, radio, and telephone. See Disaster.

Ambulance Service Providers

Individuals, groups of individuals, corporations, partnerships, associates, trusts, joint ventures, units of local government, or other public or private ownership entities that own and operate a business or service using one or more ambulances or EMS vehicles. See Emergency Medical Technician, Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic, Emergency Medicine.

American Red Cross

A humanitarian organization, led by volunteers, that provides relief to victims of disasters and helps people prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies. It does this through services that are consistent with its Congressional Charter and the Principles of the International Red Cross Movement.   See Disaster, Emergency, FEMA, Manmade Disaster, Natural Disaster.

Ammonium Nitrate-Fuel Oil (ANFO)

See ANFO.

Ammonium Nitrate Satchel Charge

A mixture of ammonium-nitrate fertilizer and melted wax .

Ammunition Storage Unit (ASU)

All types of explosives storage magazines including outdoor or indoor, open storage areas, sheds, bunkers, and earth-covered and above-ground magazines.

ANFO (Ammonium Nitrate-Fuel Oil)

A powerful explosive created by mixing fertilizer and fuel oil together.   ANFO bombs were used in the Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing and the first World Trade Center attack as well as other terrorist attacks around the world. See Bomb, Explosion, Explosives, Fertilizer Bomb.

Antiballistic Missile

Missile used specifically for intercepting ballistic missiles.

Antipersonnel Mine

A mine designed to kill and incapacitate infantry from an opposing army. See Claymore Mine, Mine.

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Anti-Ram Vehicle Barrier

A device or barrier that prevents vehicle access for pedestrian protection and building security. Vehicle barriers are considered either passive barriers, which are stationary (e.g., fixed bollards, concrete walls, planters, berms), or active barriers, which can typically be retracted or moved out of the way to allow passage (such as retractable bollards, crash beams, and rotating plates). Passive barriers are used to create perimeter or edge protection; active barriers are applicable to roadways, driveways, or entry control points and are lowered or raised to prevent passage. See Active Barriers, Barriers, Bollard, Corrugated Metal Revetment, Expeditionary Earth Filled Prtective Barriers, Passive Barriers, Perimeter Defenses .

Anti-Terrorist

Military, Intelligence and Security defensive measures intended to reduce the threat of, or vulnerability to, terrorist acts on individuals and property. Could involve the military, police, or security forces.

Antiterrorism

Military, Intelligence and Security defensive measures intended to reduce the threat of, or vulnerability to, terrorist acts on individuals and property. Can involve the army, police or security forces. See Antiterrorism Equipment, Antiterrorism Training, Terrorism.

Antiterrorism Equipment

Security equipment specifically identified for use by forces in combating potential terrorist actions. See Antiterrorism Training, Terrorism.

Antiterrorism Training

Antiterrorism awareness training for Government employees and operational training for security personnel. See Antiterrorism Equipment, Terrorism.

APHE

Abbreviation for Armor-Piercing High Explosive (ammunition). See Armor.

API

Abbreviation for Armor-Piercing Incendiary (ammunition). See Armor.

Apron

a defined area on an airfield intended to accommodate aircraft for purposes of loading or unloading military or civilian passengers or cargo, refueling, parking, or maintenance.

Area Command

An organization established to 1) oversee the management of multiple incidents that are each being handled by an Incident Command System organization or 2) to oversee the management of a very large incident that has multiple Incident management Teams assigned to it. Area Command has the responsibility to see overall strategy and priorities, allocate critical resources based on priorities, ensure that incidents are properly managed, and ensure that objectives are met and strategies followed.

Area Lighting

Lighting which illuminates a large exterior area.

ARMCO Steel Bin Revetments

Revetment barriers constructed of Armco steel "bins" filled with compacted earth and erected in 10-foot long sections.  The Armco Steel Bin Revetment was made out of 16 gauge steel stringers bolted to steel columns to form a revetment barrier with walls 5-1/2 feet thick and 12 feet high. Viet Nam Era standard revetment “kits” included enough material to construct 240 linear feet of revetment and required 8,420 tons of compacted fill material. See A-1 Revetment, B-1 Revetment, Earth-filled, Steel Bin-Type Barricades, Metalith, Revetment.

ARMCO Type A Revetment

An earth-filled, steel bin constructed barricade which had to be a minimum of 7 feet [2.1 meters] thick. See A-1 Revetment, B-1 Revetment, Corrugated Metal Revetment, Earth-filled, Steel Bin-Type Barricades, Metalith, Revetment.

ARMCO Type B Revetment

An earth-filled, steel bin constructed barricade which had to be a minimum of 5.25 feet [1.6 meters] thick. See A-1 Revetment, B-1 Revetment, Earth-filled, Steel Bin-Type Barricades, Expeditionary Earth Filled Protective Barriers, Metalith, Revetment.

Armor

A covering for the body or military equipment for combat. See APHE, API.

Armored Fighting Vehicles

An armored vehicle which protects the crew and passengers from shrapnel and small arms fire, whilst carrying machine guns, cannon and guided missiles to attack enemy vehicles and infantry with. Examples include tanks and Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs). See Infantry Fighting Vehicles and Tank.

Armored Personnel Carrier (APC)

A tracked or wheeled light armored vehicle, designed to carry infantry and protect them from small arms fire and shrapnel. Usually armed with machine guns, many APCs have a modular design enabling variants to be created for a wide range of missions such as army ambulance, command vehicle, antitank weapon carrier, air defense and many more. See Infantry Fighting Vehicles.

Artillery

Large-caliber weapons, such as mortars, cannons, howitzers, missile and rocket launchers, that are designed to fire indirectly at targets spotted by other forces, such as armored vehicles, infantry, and buildings. See Armored Fighting Vehicles, Armored Personnel Carrier, Mortar.

Assessment, Damage

See Damage Assessment.

Asset

A resource of value requiring protection. An asset can be tangible such as people, buildings, facilities, equipment, activities, operations, and information; or intangible, such as processes or a company's information and reputation.

Asset Value

The degree of debilitating impact that would be caused by the incapacity or destruction of an asset.

Asset Protection

Security program designed to protect personnel, facilities, and equipment, in all locations and situations, accomplished through planned and integrated application of combating terrorism, physical security, operations security, personal protective services, and supported by intelligence, counterintelligence, and other security programs.

Assets

Any potential target of terrorist attack, most commonly people, equipment, a building, or an outdoor venue (in whole or in part).

Asymmetric Threat

The use of crude or low-tech methods to attack a superior or high-tech enemy.

Attenuation

The difference between the measurement of a blast wave on the outside and inside of a barrier. Decrease in intensity of a signal, beam, or wave as a result of absorption of energy and of scattering out of the path of a detector, but not including the reduction due to geometric spreading, i.e., the inverse square of distance effect. Also t he absorption of infrared wavelengths due to carbon dioxide, water vapor, and ozone reducing the effectiveness and range of laser & IR guided weapons. See A-1 Revetment, B-1 Revetment, Blast Wave, Revetment, Shock Wave.

Automated Entry Control Systems/Equipment

Equipment used to automate all or portions of the entry control process, including identification of candidates for entry, determination of their authority to enter the area, and operation of entry control barriers. See Access Control.

Auxiliary Storage Facility

Small facilities used to store working stocks of supplies and equipment (e.g. benchstock, packing materials, dunnage, etc.) in support of an explosives location. Facilities must be sited as ware houses if they are used to store inert munitions components which are part of the accountable munitions stockpile.

Axis of Evil

Iran, Iraq, and North Korea as mentioned by President G.W. Bush during his State of the Union speech in 2002 as nations that were a threat to U.S. security due to harboring terrorism. See Bush Doctrine.

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Numeric | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K
L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | WXYZ

For more information about Infrastructure Defense Technologies' perimeter security products and applications, please call us at 1-800-621-5617, email us at info@themetalith.com, or fill out our contact form.

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The Metalith
A Division of Infrastructure Defense Technologies

3575 Morreim Drive • Belvidere, Illinois 61008
Phone: 1-800-621-5617• Fax: 1-815-323-1317
Email: info@themetalith.com

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