President-Elect Kevin O'Brien attended PETS (President-Elect Training Seminar) in Seattle at the Double Tree Inn this past weekend. PETS session started on Friday morning February 23rd and concluded on Sunday, February 25th. During the PETS training sessions, Kevin met Rachel Preston who leads the Snohomish County Rotaract Club. Rachel expressed interested in helping with our Corks & Kegs event. PETS training is also built on gaining relationships and sharing information with other Rotarians from around the Pacific Northwest.  One of the greatest experiences for anyone involved in Rotary as they prepare for their Rotary year.

Captain Swainson's main role with  the WSP is working with Homeland Security and the Washington State Ferry System. He started his comments about the recent Parkland, Florida shootings and his previous visit with an Officer in the Israeli Counter-Intelligence who commented on US gun policy and control and on the topic of how Israeli's have been able to divert terrorists actions in Israel. Behavioral methodologies is the best deterrent against acts of terrorism. He cited the example of Richard Reed, the shoe bomber who admitted when being caught in the United States trying to board an airplane, caught with a bomb in his shoe. Reed admitted his first attempt was trying to board a plane in Israel. Since he was acting so irrationally, Israeli security brought him in for questioning. Hence the reasons for removing your shoes when going through security checkpoints at the airport.

 

Terrorists will try anything such as putting bombs in underwear, drinking containers and potentially laptops which is another reason for tighter security control in our transportation systems primarily the airlines and the ferry systems. Terrorist use ways to communicate with unhappy individuals in the United States and other countries on how to make homemade explosives and use them against the countries where they reside without every leaving their country for terrorism training. The Washington State Ferry System moves over 23.3 million riders and is the largest ferry system in the United States. WSF is the fourth largest in the world. It is the largest ferry system in the world for number of vehicles carried with 10.2 million per year.

 

In wrapping up his talk, Captain Swainson commented on fact that Washington residents have more protective rights for individuals than U. S. laws. We should take a hard look at school security officers and their training. Best way to deter a terrorist is for residents who "SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING". Call 911.

 

Captain Swainson was raised in Spokane, graduating from Gonzaga Prep High School before moving on to Central Washington University in Ellensburg, majoring in English. He was an ROTC graduate and winner of the George C. Marshall award for top cadet. He was commissioned as an Army aviation officer and served in the National Guard as a helicopter pilot, commanding an aviation detachment. He joined the Washington State Patrol in 1991.