|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
 |
 |
    |
|
|
|||
 |
|
||
|
|||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
U.S. Plans Major Counterterrorism Drill
The United States plans to conduct its largest-ever counterterrorism drill next month, involving more than 15,000 government personnel, private workers and international officials to rehearse responding to a series of simulated radiological “dirty bomb” attacks, the U.S. Homeland Security Department said (see GSN, July 23, 2006). The Top Officials 4 or “TOPOFF 4” exercise is expected to take place Oct. 15-19 in Arizona, Oregon and the U.S. territory of Guam. Numerous agencies in the “The National Intelligence Estimate and recent activity overseas reinforce that we are in a period of increased risk,” Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in a statement. “Exercises like TOPOFF help test response capabilities at all levels, strengthen national preparedness and deepen international coordination.” The drill aims to test the ability of government agencies to share intelligence to prevent a terrorist attack, coordinate intelligence following an attack, respond to an attack involving a weapon of mass destruction using existing incident management guidelines and communicate important information to the public through the media. The TOPOFF 4 exercise is planned to build on work from previous drills and actual emergencies, further emphasizing coordination between private firms and the Defense Department, preventing attacks, decontaminating large numbers of people, addressing recovery issues and working with international allies. “TOPOFF stresses our preparedness and response systems with situations that no single agency or jurisdiction could handle on its own,” said David Paulison, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “The right response actually takes thousands of individuals working together” (U.S. Department of Homeland Security release, Sept. 24).
| ||||||||||
Back to top
