Antiterrorism
Individual Awareness Tips
1
1. Purpose: this paper provides individual awareness tips and personal protection
measures to help protect Soldiers, DA civilians, and their family members from potential
terrorist acts.
2. Background:
The threat of terrorists attacking our Army communities is real. Terrorists can strike
anytime and anywhere.
Antiterrorism is the defensive measures used to reduce the vulnerability of
individuals, information and facilities to terrorist acts.
The awareness information provided below can help reduce an individual’s risk of
becoming a terrorist target.
3. How Terrorists Identify and Select Targets.
To begin with, consider ways a person might become a victim of a terrorist attack.
Three specific examples to keep in mind include:
Location: Terrorists may target locations frequented by Americans (such as
military installations or facilities, or certain hotels, apartment buildings, public
transportation centers and nightclubs frequented by Americans). Individuals
should maintain heightened awareness in these locations and leave
immediately if they observe suspicious behavior or activity.
Association: Terrorists may focus pre-operational surveillance or actual
attacks on obvious American tourists or personnel associated with the U.S.
military. When possible, avoid disclosing your U.S. affiliation. When
overseas, try to blend in with the local populace.
Opportunity: Terrorists look for “soft targets.” A soft target is a person,
information, or facility in which the terrorist perceives they have good chance
of a successful attack and a low risk of interference by security forces. To
minimize opportunity, individuals should maintain vigilance, practice good
