As of September 2009, MASY began providing support to the Department of Defense’s Regional Expertise Training Initiative. MASY provides regional familiarization training to intelligence professionals required to augment U.S. and coalition operations in the AFPAK theater.  MASY provides subject matter experts to develop and teach a variety of courses with various levels of difficulty and complexity.  Subject matter includes in-depth knowledge of all aspects of the AFPAK culture, regional issues, history, security, governance, insurgency, counterintelligence, counter-threat finance, counternarcotics and current events.

The MASY Group Advisor Dr. Loch Johnson is the editor of the forthcoming The Oxford Handbook on National Security Intelligence (Oxford University Press, 2009), which includes essays from numerous top intelligence experts in the academic world.

Columbia University graduate students whose careers will take them to high-risk areas overseas were given the opportunity to attend The MASY Group’s Overseas Abduction Prevention and Response (OAPR) Seminar. The event, scheduled for mid-February 2009, was focused on relevant training for International/Public Affairs, Business and Journalism students.

Col. Jennifer Hesterman wrote this article for the February/March 2009 issue of The Counter Terrorist which examines the complexities of global gangs and criminal enterprises, their relationship to terrorists, and the growing threat this poses to national security.

In Homeland Security – New Study Highlights U.S. Cities at Greatest Risk for Terrorist Attacks – authored by The MASY Group Analysis Branch Director, Col. Jennifer L. Hesterman.

Ostriches, Cheerleaders, Skeptics, and Guardians: Role Selection by Congressional Intelligence Overseers (SAIS REVIEW – Volume 28, Number 1, Winter-Spring 2008)

Since 1975, members of Congress have displayed four general responses to the call for greater intelligence accountability. Some have taken the approach of ‘ostriches,’ content to bury their heads in the sand and continue the earlier era of trust, when lawmakers deferred to the decisions of the executive branch within the domains of intelligence and defense. Others, indeed a majority, have chosen to… pdf

The MASY Group was invited to join a discussion on U.S. Intelligence, “Spies: Future Challenges for U.S. Intelligence.” The discussion panel consisted of John McLaughlin, SAIS Merrill Center for Strategic Studies Senior Fellow, former CIA acting director and SAIS graduate; Ron Kessler, journalist and best-selling author of The Terrorist Watch: Inside the Desperate Race to Stop the Next Attack; and Burton Gerber, retired Senior CIA officer.

The MASY Group welcomes retired Air Force Colonel Jennifer L. Hesterman to head MASY’s Analysis Branch. Col. Hesterman retired after an exceptional military career with 21 years of active duty service. As a former National Defense Fellow as well as a graduate of the Senior Executive Fellows Program, Harvard University, Col. Hesterman brings superior leadership and noted recognition for her approach to research and analysis. She most recently undertook research for the Institute of National Security Studies regarding the corporate aspects of International Terrorism.

SRA International, Inc. is a leading provider of technology and strategic consulting services and solutions to government organizations and has recently announced it has been awarded a Solutions for Intelligence Analysis (SIA) contract by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)… More information

The MASY Group is pleased to welcome Dr. Mark M. Lowenthal, Former Assistant Director of Central Intelligence for Analysis and Production and also the Vice Chairman for Evaluation on the National Intelligence Council, as a new member of our of Board of Advisors.