SSG: Spy/Spec-Ops Group discussion
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security briefing schedule at the EOP
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I believe that one of the more important meetings at the White House is the weekly National Security Council meeting. The participants are the President, Vice-President (am not sure about him), the National Security Advisor, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Chief of the Joint Staffs and the Director of National Intelligence. They may add other participants if needed to discuss specific subjects (subject experts, etc.). Because of the highly classified and sensitive nature of the matters discussed at the NSC meetings, it is normally held in the situation room, in the basement of the White House.
Feliks, I would suggest that you read quickly through the novels by Tom Clancy that feature Jack Ryan as President of the USA: they do describe parts of a presidential work schedule.
Feliks, I would suggest that you read quickly through the novels by Tom Clancy that feature Jack Ryan as President of the USA: they do describe parts of a presidential work schedule.
Mod
(but nix on reading the novels, no time)
if you need to look at the presidents daily schedule I suggest goggle Bill Clinton daily presidential schedule this will show you his daily meeting during his presidency from 1993 to January of 2001 this all be made public of course through the bill clinton library
one more thing to add there is also a website called white house museme this will show tons of pictures of the residence the east and west wing during different administrations and will give u a basic layout of the white house and the west wing of course
Went to college in Washington DC and worked in congressional/executive branch government relations in the town for 14 or more years.1.) the press office at the white house releases the president's public schedule you should be able to find it there with a web search.
2.) the PDB is usually provided first thing during the day and captures activities overnight that might have emerged or result from action that have taken place overnight and to provide an update of goings on around the world. Of course I would assume anything that happens overnight that is urgent, results in a "get up you need to see this now." Before that comes, there are swarms of people who have already been woken up hours before and they decide whether the prez needs to be rustled from their sleep or can it wait til morning.
The PDB is probably more than national security but probably also includes national goings on..unrests in cities and towns, major disasters, etc, etc.
3.) Most national security things in the white house are handled by the National security advisor to the president whose job it is to collect the data and info from all the intelligence sources and present and develop and create the daily briefing (CIA, NSA, Joint Chiefs, Homeland Security) it's Top secret so if you don't work there no one will tell you whats in it so it's all a guess anyway. Some of that info may or may not be shared with Congress from time to time.
4.) the president of course works in the west wing of the white house. most authorized people (staff, cabinet members, congressional leaders etc, enter from the side door from the gated driveway between the west wing and the old executive office building, officially known as the Eisenhower Executive Office Building where the VP has a ceremonial office.
5.) Guests or visitors use the front door of the West Wing Lobby Entrance of course after having provided a social security number in advance of their meeting so they can be cleared before they get to the gate. They will also know beforehand if they have been cleared and if not cleared, don't bother to show up. No such thing as a walk in.
6.) in a crisis, say like 9/11 I'm sure the continuity in government plan of action was activated. Top leader evacuation and all key people accounted for, hurried off to some secret location including top leaders in Congress. Who knows what or how things happen at that time. You can look that up in a web search as well. I know during the Cold War, The Greenbriar Resort in W. VA had a bunker developed for that plan and had rooms to house all members of congress in a bunker. Not sure it's used now.
The CIA Museum has declassified copies of quite a few of the Presidential Daily Briefings that took place during the Cold War. They are available online.I've been to the White House only once. I used that experience to write the following part of "Trapped in a Hall of Mirrors", included here to save you time. It can hopefully give you a little feel of the place, especially the West Wing Lobby:
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Off we went, down the George Washington Parkway to the Key Bridge, over the bridge to K Street, down K to 17th Street NW, right on 17th to Pennsylvania, and down Pennsylvania to the White House itself. It was a beautiful day and the small crowd gathered in front of the White gawked at us and some of them even took pictures as our motorcade pulled through the gate and onto the White House grounds. Right at that moment, I felt like a rock star.
We pulled up to the front of the White House and proceeded to get out of our cars. Larry, Ruby, and I opened the back of our station wagon and unloaded all the briefing materials. A small contingent of the White House press corps took cursory note of us and a few photographers snapped pictures of the entire group entering the White House. Once inside we walked into the West Wing Lobby. The Deputy Director told Larry, Ruby, and me to sit down and wait there. He took the briefing papers from Ruby and handed them to the DCI.
The DDI then said to us, “Wait here with the flip charts and slideshow, we'll call you if we need you.”
With that, he and the DCI walked out of the Lobby and down the corridor towards the Oval Office. They would wait in the corridor just outside the Oval Office until summoned by the President. We would cool our heels in the West Wing Lobby. It soon occurred to me that all of this might just have been a giant “goat rodeo”. We weren't actually going to even see President Carter. We were just there for insurance, just in case the questioning got too intense and the bosses couldn't field what the President was asking. Short of that, we were just going to sit and wait for the entire length of the meeting. That's just what we did.
The Lobby was nice enough. It had large paintings of early American scenes on the walls. There was even a painting of Washington crossing the Delaware. It had three couches, six matching chairs, and three small oval-shaped dark wood coffee tables. The walls were creme colored and the rug brown. It was a lovely room and the three of us sat there in stony silence for an hour. Each of us sat alone on one of the couches not even daring to look at each other. I knew what I would see if I looked at Larry – hatred! He blamed me for this whole ridiculous predicament. I think he would go on blaming me for the rest of his life for any misfortune he might encounter. I had become his arch foe, his scapegoat, and the very bane of his existence. I was genuinely sorry all this had happened to him. I somehow seemed to have single-handedly ruined his entire life. I hadn't intended to do so, it had just happened.
After a little over an hour was up, the DCI and DDI came back to the Lobby. They were grinning from ear to ear. Apparently, President Carter, known for being a micromanager and ruthless interrogator of his officials, was in a particularly buoyant mood that day and had thrown them nothing but softballs. He seemed satisfied that the CIA was not being run by complete incompetents. He took their word for the fact that the CIA was all over what was happening in the Iranian revolution and hadn't been surprised by anything that had happened there so far. In other words, they had completely fooled the President.
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Michael
http://michaelconnick.com
A couple of minor additions to the above:Today, Pennsylvania Ave in front of the White House is blocked to traffic. The drive from Langley to the White House described above took place during President Carter's administration.
It's possible that the West Wing Lobby has been redecorated since I was last there. What's above is an accurate description of what I saw at that time.
Finally, the big impression everyone brings back from a visit to the White House is how small the rooms are. They look huge on TV, but when you are standing inside them, they appear to be way smaller. You get the same effect when you visit a TV studio. On camera, they look huge, but actually they are quite small.
Michael
http://michaelconnick.com
Mod
So the weekly National Security briefing is different than the PBD?
The PDB (Presidential Daily Briefing, not PBD) is meant to cover the latest classified developments in World and domestic affairs. The weekly NSC briefings would be more about formulating policies and approve plans and actions against some specific threats or situations.
Yup, that was a typo it should have been PDB
Joint Special Operations Command:SOCOM or JSOC
FeliksNot sure if this hits your brief, but here's something I was reading
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-ca...
But as it so happens, I currently have some minor research to do on the topic. So I am turning to you guys to come to my aid! I need a refresher on this topic.
What I need to know first is 'who'.
What members of the intel and military community meet with the POTUS regularly? Joint Chiefs, head of FBI, head of CIA, defense secretary, Secretaries of individual armed services? Head of NSA? Are there multiple meetings?
Next question: how often do any of these persons meet with the Prez? Daily? Weekly? I seem to recall that a regular "morning security meeting" was standard.
Next: is there any 'inner circle' or 'outer circle' meetings? Like a 'tight' meeting between just the POTUS and the intel chiefs, not including the military?
Next: where? Always at the White House? What room? What entrance do they use to enter the residence?
Next: during a crisis, how does the normal security briefing schedule, alter?
If you've read any thrillers recently, and can speak off the top of your head, I welcome it. Any and all might help. Thank ye!
Feliks