The job as ground video security systems operator engages you in gathering intelligence and information. Forget it if you think you'll be glued hours to the monitors looking for spies. There are several skills level for the job and promotion is fast if you have what it takes to get to the top of the heap.
As a rookie you'll operate and maintain the ground video surveillance systems, ensure that all equipment is working in synch including the existing communications facilities or equipment. It is also your job to check that light wheeled vehicles are up and running before you're tasked to recover surveillance systems. That's the physical side of the job. On the other hand, you should be good at detecting, locating, and interpreting information.
As you go up the next skill levels, you'll be providing more tactical and technical direction to subordinates as part of your team management and operation. The exciting part is brainstorming surveillance assignments with the aid of aerial photographs and intelligence reports.
What It Takes
For the first skill level, you'll need a high school diploma or its equivalent and a certification that you've completed and qualified for managing video security systems will come in handy.
Like all military jobs, you'll have to pass the demands of the job that will ask you to carry heavy equipment in the area of 100 pounds plus an excess of 50 pounds as frequently as necessary. On top of this, you should score 85 in electronics (EL) and 95 in surveillance and communications (SC).
In the medical department you should rate a 222121 or:
* 2 in stamina
* 2 in the strength of upper extremities
* 2 in the lower extremities
* 1 in hearing and ear fitness
* 2 in visual capacity
* 1 in emotional, personal, and free from psychiatric diseases
* Normal color vision
You cannot take these tests if you are not a US citizen, joined the Peace Corps, have a conviction record, or you fail the security clearance test, you won't get the job. If you qualify and you want to go up in the skill levels, you must meet the career management and development criteria.
The Top Level
The highest skill level for ground video security systems operator requires keen judgment, ability to manage and lead a group, and involvement in organizational activities. On the personal level you should have leadership skills and a good understanding of the human nature - since you're not only dealing with monitors and images. You're dealing with people and interpreting intelligence reports.
On the technical side, you need the efficiency of security experts - do trouble shooting when there's a technical glitch, and be alert to the overall operation of the system. Your role is highly important whether you're at skill level 1 or 5.
If you're already in the army, the transition won't be difficult as long as you pass the exams and meet all the requirements for the job for ground video security systems operator.
Video Security Monitoring System
Cheating may not be an art form, but it is certainly as old as science itself. As early as the ancient Olympics, boxers already fixed their fights. In horse races in Victorian England, it is not uncommon for riders to throw the game away in exchange for a generous bribe. During the Song Dynasty in ancient China, scholars were patted down before taking civil service exams. Employers in Medieval England frequently suffered headaches constantly trying to prevent hired workers from cheating. But if you think cheating is any less rampant today compared to the old days, think again. Like arts, sciences, and bacteria, cheating has evolved. In fact, cheaters are still continually finding innovative ways to win without playing fair. Thanks to video security, however, cheaters will no longer always triumph in the end.
For Your Eyes Only
Video security involves closed-circuit television, or CCTV. Unlike other applications of television, CCTV is not broadcasted for the public to see. Instead, circuits are used to connect particular receivers to the TV camera. CCTV has many applications. For example, humans can watch different industrial observations from a distance. Also, CCTV is used in some sporting events, such as boxing matches. Universities often use CCTV, too, to transmit various media, such as video tape recordings relayed to distance learning students. In the academe, however, CCTV has another purpose. It helps schools catch test cheaters red-handed.
Studying the Tape
In many Asian countries, college entrance exams are virtually life-or-death occasions. Not surprisingly, cheating is a rampant problem. Though cheating is as old as the hills, students' methods are breaking new ground. In China, some agencies can provide you with a "double" to take your university entrance exam for you. What's even more interesting is that these agencies guarantee that not only will your clone look like you, he or she will ace the test, too!
This is where video security sees a practical application. Many educators in Asia have had enough. For example, in one Indian university, CCTV was installed to monitor students taking a very important exam.
CCTV Passes the Test
A growing number of education institutions across Asia now use CCTV video security to monitor test-takers. In one case in China, CCTV successfully caught students discussing exam questions and handing exam notes to other students. What made it worse was that the teacher saw these take place but chose to ignore them. In another classroom at another country, students traded answer sheets, discussed the exam, and used body language to send signals to each other. All these took place while the personnel administering the test strolled from the classroom door to the lobby outside.
An Ounce of Prevention
Video security via CCTV is an effective and cost-efficient way to catch cheaters. Moreover, installing CCTV might be easier than you imagine if you follow these simple step-by-step procedures:
1. Consider where the camera and equipment for monitoring will be placed. Factors to consider include the light conditions of the room and how far away the test-takers will be from the camera.
2. The next step is the most vital and challenging aspect of installing video security components: wiring. The quality, length, and location of the wires are extremely important for the room's video security system.
3. Using screws, attach the camera to a mounted bracket. Then, do a rough adjusting of the camera's position.
4. Connect the monitor and recorder.
5. Finally, turn on the CCTV system and make any final adjustments that may be required. First, turn on the cameras' power supply, monitor, and DVR system. Then, verify that the camera's view is the one that you want.
Cheating is not new, but perhaps today's hectic world and prolific sharing of information has made it more tempting than ever. Nonetheless, CCTV video security has become a useful tool in teaching students an age-old lesson. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't pay to cheat.
