RENO, Nev. – A lot of interest for attendees on day one of the STN EXPO, unsurprisingly, was the Terrorism Awareness Training session that discussed the real and perceived threats for student transporters.
Attendees packed Carson 2 at the Grand Sierra Resort to hear from Bret E. Brooks, chief operating officer for Gray Ram Tactical and a former U.S. Army captain as well as SWAT sniper and state law enforcement officer in Missouri.
It was a timely seminar amid the news from yesterday of the mass shooting in Munich, which targeted and killed several teenagers. The attack was the latest reminder that children are not immune to the effects of extremism. In fact, they very well may be the intended target.
The Munich shooter reportedly utilized social media to pose as a promoter, luring teens to the mall at a set time, where the attacker waited and then opened fire as people gathered. And the fact that the terrorist truck driver in Nice, France, cared little that children were among those he killed and injured as he drove through a throng of holiday revelers reminds us that there is no limit to terror, and no one is safe from its reach.
Terrorism is a matter of “shock and awe,” and dead children provide the most shock value to ensure the terrorist’s twisted messages are heard and felt.
Brooks told me afterward that it’s not a matter of if a school bus will be targeted, but when. The statement is not meant to scare—though it undoubtedly will—but to inform, as our society and world are reminded time and time again of the worst in human nature and ideology.
He urged that student transportation professionals learn all they can about potential terrorist threats and to train their staff to prepare for incidents. Should something happen, they should have a plan in place to at least draw from to potentially save lives.
In the meantime, the increasingly popular phrase “If you see something, do something” rings no truer than it does for the nation’s corps of school bus drivers. Vigilance in reporting something or someone that doesn’t seem right can be the difference between life and a mass loss of it.
