One service I provide as an Electromagnetic Environmental Effects (EEE or E3) engineer is to help designers of military equipment and systems prevent damage to their equipment caused by Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) events. While the EMP threat is well-known in the military community, particularly its effects on strategic and battlefield forces, the potential impact on the civilian domestic infrastructure is virtually ignored.
Several years ago the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack, spearheaded by my congressman Roscoe Bartlett (Maryland, 6th District, Republican), issued a report about the devastating effects of a High Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse (HEMP) event on the domestic U.S. population. A rouge state or terrorist organization could detonate a nuclear device over the U.S. and potentially blast us into the Stone Age without killing people or destroying buildings. The EMP Commission’s Critical National Infrastructure Report (or the Executive Report for those interested in an introduction or ‘lighter reading’) is an excellent treatise on this risk to our way of life.
A grass-roots organization called EMPACT America has sprung up to bring together “local citizenry, civic-minded companies, and grassroots activists to help prepare communities in New York and across America to prepare for an EMP attack. Working with local city governments and first responders, EMPACT America provides for coordination, education, and consulting services, helping to create a growing grassroots movement focused on EMP preparedness and recovery.” This is one of many similar groups likely to grow out of our new world disorder.
Stu Benner
E3 Design Engineer
EMConsulting, LLC
Tags: EMP, first responders