New BioTerror Drill: Determined Promise 03

posted by ewing2001 on Friday August 15, @10:16AM

Could new BioTerror Drill turn into a new attack?

Military to Conduct Bio-Terror Exercise

By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer - Friday August 15, 2003

WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. Northern Command, which is responsible for military operations inside the United States, said Friday it will begin an exercise next week to test its ability to respond to multiple domestic emergencies simultaneously, including a bio-terror attack in Nevada.

The exercise, dubbed Determined Promise '03, includes a simulated hurricane, real and simulated wildfires, an airborne terrorist threat in Alaska and an outbreak of pneumonic plague in Nevada

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It begins Monday with the plague outbreak in Clark County, which includes 70 percent of Nevada's population, including Las Vegas. Local authorities will respond first by activating an emergency operations center, followed by action at the state level and activation of the Nevada National Guard on Wednesday. Northern Command will direct the use of active-duty forces.

At the same time, Northern Command's headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., will deal with a variety of simulated natural disasters and terrorist threats elsewhere in the country.

Lt. Col. Dan Stoneking, a Pentagon spokesman, said the exercise has been planned for months and has no direct connection to this week's power blackouts in the Northeast.

Fifteen federal offices and agencies will participate, including the assistant secretary of defense for homeland security, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as intelligence agencies such as the National Reconnaissance Office and the CIA.

Also participating will be the American Red Cross and the American Association of Railroads, as well as seven state and local organizations, including National Guard units in Nevada, Alabama and Rhode Island. Twenty-eight active-duty military units will be involved, including the headquarters of Atlantic Fleet in Norfolk, Va., and Air Combat Command in Langley, Va.

As part of the exercise, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, at Colorado Springs, Colo., will conduct a one-day air exercise in Alaska to test the command's ability to deal with potential airborne terrorist threats and to coordinate with Northern Command.

The exercise will have 2,000 participants and cost $2 million, according to Northern Command. It ends Aug. 28.

More about older Preprations here:

Determined Promise 03
25 Nov 02 - 15 Dec 02

Sponsoring Organization	Joint Forces Command Joint Warfighting Center (JFCOM JWFC)
Type of Event	Training Exercise
M&S Domain
Location	Joint Training, Analysis, and Simulation Center USJFCOM 116 Lake View Pkwy., Ste. 100 Suffolk, VA USA 23435-2697
Event Point of Contact	SEE BELOW
Description	Supported CINC: JFCOM Type of exercise: MES Training Audience: JFCOM Battlestaff and JTF-CS/Interagency Description: DP03 is a field training exercise that will train the JFCOM Battlestaff and JTF-CS in a WMD crisis management and consequence management scenario. POC: LTC Guy McGee, 443-5938

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