Active Security” Operating Doctrine at the NNSA Office of Secure Transportation

Over the past several years, the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Secure Transportation (OST) has developed and implemented a wholly new doctrine regarding how it provides safe and secure transportation of the nation’s nuclear weapons, nuclear weapon components, and special nuclear material. This doctrine—called Active Security—deviates from traditional security philosophies through its emphasis on preventing an attack before it can be initiated through the use of security practices throughout the security continuum of deter, disrupt, detect and if necessary defend, recapture and conduct recovery operations. This emphasis leads to an operationally-focused, intelligence-driven organization that utilizes deductive critical analyses of potential threats to anticipate OST’s operating environment, focuses training and operational resources on more likely threats, and intentionally develops the skills and capabilities needed to prevent attacks before they can be initiated. This paper discusses the principles of OST’s Active Security Doctrine, how the doctrine has been applied to the OST organization, and the training program designed to instill Active Security across the organization.