The Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security is pleased to announce its Annual Essay Competition. This competition strives to stimulate original thought on issues in Homeland Security and Homeland Defense.

According to the National Strategy for Homeland Security, the objectives of homeland security are to prevent terrorist attacks within the United States, reduce America's vulnerability to terrorism, and minimize the damage and recover from attacks that do occur. The purpose of this competition is to promote innovative thinking that addresses these objectives.

Your response may be general or focus on a specific aspect (organizational, policy, strategy, practice, technological innovation, social impact, etc.) or discipline/field, (emergency management, public health, law enforcement, critical infrastructure, intelligence, etc.). Essays may be written from any perspective – e.g. government, private sector, cultural, local community, or citizen.

The competition is open to everyone with an interest in homeland defense and security. Current Center for Homeland Defense and Security faculty, staff, students and graduates (of the Master's or Executive Leaders Programs) are not eligible.

The essay should be no more than five pages, single spaced, in twelve point type and in Word or PDF format. Do not include your name on the essay. Essays must be original and not published elsewhere. Submission implies permission to publish.

Timeline: The deadline for submission is 31 January 2012. Finalists will be announced no later than May 31, 2012.

Essays will be evaluated on relevance to the question, innovation of the idea(s), strength of the argument, and quality of the writing.

The winner will receive a $1000.00 award. Additionally, the winning and four top finalist essays will be considered for publication by Homeland Security Affairs, the online journal published by the Naval Postgraduate School's Center for the Homeland Defense and Security.