With construction of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility on schedule for completion in December 2020, and the plan to reach full operational capability in December 2022, people have already been hard at work for a couple of years establishing a security system for the facility.
John Moes, the NBAF Security Director who spent over 20 years in the Air Force in various security and leadership roles, says one strategy used for security is keeping the facility closed to visitors.
He says after that, there are multiple layers of security as you move further into the facility.
Moes has also worked to create a culture of security among NBAF employees.
He says this helps increase surveillance in a facility that has a limited amount of personnel dedicated to security.
The same principle has also been applied to IT security.
Beyond the walls and campus of NBAF, efforts to implement security have reached into the community.
According to Moes, who has been working in his role for about four years, there has been cooperation and communication between NBAF personnel and local emergency-management service departments, such as the Riley County Fire Department, the Manhattan Fire Department and medical services.
People living in local communities are encouraged to take part in making NBAF a secure facility by reporting suspicious activity to local emergency services.
Construction of NBAF is scheduled to be completed in December 2020 with commissioning complete in May 2021. The laboratory is expected to be at full operational capability by December 2022.
For more information about NBAF, visit dhs.gov.
