We are living in a security world…
April 19, 2008
and I am a security girl. 
As you might have guessed, working on the White House campus involves a lot of security. Some of it is very obvious, some less so. To give you an idea, here’s a ‘typical’ day.
I drive to work and enter the garage in my building. It’s supposedly a ‘public’ garage. I’ve been parking there since I began work in September and have a monthly pass. Yet, everyday I drive in and have to show my ID badge to an officer of the Secret Service Uniformed Division (yup, there’s both uniform and plain clothes divisions). I get waved in and go park.
I get in the elevator and go to the lower level of my building where another UDSS person checks my badge again. I also have to send all my bags through a screener and walk through a metal detector myself. The difference between airport screening and this is that a) I don’t have to take my shoes off and b) I can bring in liquids (yay for my morning coffee! 
).
I then get into an elevator where I am required to use a special fob to allow me to select my floor. Once I arrive on my floor, there is plain clothes SS agent manning a security desk… with George looking down over his right shoulder and Dick learing down over his left. Initially, these guys really aren’t too friendly initially 
, but I’ve now trained all of them to respond appropriately to a greeting (a couple even take the initiative and will greet me without prompting!). 
I’m like that. 
I then use the same fob to I did to get onto my floor to get into the actual office area – passing by the secret service agent in the process. Then I’m in my office! Once I get there, I have to unlock all my files, cabinets and the coat closet (everything must be secured!). While I’m doing so, I tend to gaze out the window through the blast curtain (a kind of web-like hanging made of some sort of material that isn’t cut by broken glass) which is supposed to protect us from shrapnel should the windows shatter in some sort of explosion.
Once I unlock my coat closet, hanging inside is my VRU… affectionately referred to as the cooking bag… it’s a lifesaving device that gives you 15 minutes of pure oxygen once opened and activated so that you can survive in an emercency where the immediate environment is contaminated. It’s required you carry it with you when an alert is sounded… whether it’s a drill or the real thing.
Speaking of alerts… everyone is required to enter their information into an emergency alert system so you get all the alerts. Alerts vary, from information about events like the fire in the EEOB two weeks ago to suspicious packages and vehicles. Since in addition to my work computer, I get alerts on my BlackBerry, I get them all the time (I think we average about one a day). My favorite was when I forgot to turn my BlackBerry off at Thanksgiving, so the shrill alert sounded from in purse making my entire extended family (all 40 of them) wonder what the heck was going on. Turns out, there was a suspicious vehicle near the White House and 17th Street was blocked off. I was in Minnesota.
Following an event that requries evacuation of any kind (or drill) you’re required to log onto another system (via phone, web or BlackBerry) to report your status (whether you’re on campus or now) so they know that a) you’re okay 
and b) whether or not you can work (this latter is especially important for IS&T folks like myself who are responsible for keeping all the information systems running). 
Okay, so now I sit down at my desk. We’re on a confidential network and every morning when my computer starts up, before I log on, there’s a nice little screen that comes up reminding me of this fact, and the penalties I could face if I violate this ‘trust’ – including jail time. What a way to start the day, eh? 
Some rules during the day:
All papers go in ‘burn bags’. We don’t shred, we burn. Each person must have their own burn bag and these bags must be locked up at night. Once a week, a guy comes around and collects our bags and gives us new ones.
If you leave you computer… even to go 10 steps to the printer… you must lock it. If you don’t and IA (that’s our computer security department) catches you… you end up buying them lunch. They send out lovely messages to the whole department telling everyone of your generosity… using your e-mail that they accessed because you didn’t lock your computer. 
Each time you exit and re-enter the building… you go through the whole security check again. This is true for whatever campus building you enter. In fact, at most buildings (not mine because it’s leased space in a private building not a public building) in addtion to showing your badge, you must swipe it and enter a PIN, go through a turnstile and THEN through the metal detector.
Also there are three levels of badge, based on color, which determine what buildings you can get into. I’m a second level, which allows me into everything but the White House (for that I need to be approved through the appropriate system by someone with access to approve me).
At the end of the day, it’s actually much less hassle. You simply logout, turn off your computer, lock up your burn bag and cabinets and then… leave.
So I bet you’re wondering… “Daisy, with all of that do you really feel safe at work? I mean, you’re still right next to probably one of the biggest targests in the country.” 
My answer:
Yes, suffocatingly so. 
