The final article in a three-part series examining the Hostile Events Attack Cycle discusses the phases of pre-attack operations, the attack itself, and escape. The article explains that the pre-attack operations phase, when the attacker could be doing such things as conducting rehearsals and taking actions at the target site, represents the last opportunity to disrupt the operation. As with the previous articles, the current installment cites examples from real-world incidents to help explain the phases. The first and second articles in this series, which were released in late June and mid July, provided an overview of the cycle and discussed the phases of initial target consideration, initial surveillance, target selections, intense surveillance, and planning and rehearsals. Homeland Security Today.