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Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management Crisis and Emergency Management Newsletter Website |
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March
2007
Volume
12 - Number 3 |
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Report on TOPOFF 4 exercise 2007 By John Huffstutler TOPOFF 4 (Top Officials) is the latest congressionally
mandated cycle of seminars, planning events and national exercises conducted
to test the federal government’s National Response Plan and other preparedness
strategies to respond to terrorist attacks. These large scale exercises
attract top officials and personnel that have domestic response management
capabilities from across the country. “The object is to test the preparedness
and overall response capabilities of federal, state, and local governments
during a complex terrorist attack scenario.” (Meldon, HSDBC Press Release)
The mandate for the TOPOFF exercises has been shifted from the Department
of Justice to the Department of Homeland Security with the Department of State
taking the lead in involving Foreign Governments.
TOPOFF 4 began June 2006 with a command post exercise where more than “4,000 Federal, State, local and tribal senior officials and managers from 85 organizations participated.” (Domestic Prepardness). As the first exercise in TOPOFF 4, the command post exercise focused on the effectiveness of plans, procedures and communication capabilities and the ability of senior officials to respond to a scenario in accordance with the National Response Plan and National Incident Management System. The next disaster response drill in TOPOFF 4 is scheduled in May/June 2007 in Portland, Oregon and Guam. According to The Government Security News, AMTI, a Virginia Beach VA company was selected by DHS to design and run the war game. AMIT was active in two of the previous TOPOFF exercises. “Over 200 organizations, including government agencies and non-profits are expected to participate in the event in 2007.” (Martin, GSN Magazine) The exercise will test planning, resources and the ability to coordinate a rapid response to multiple terrorist threats. There will be two formats: a live video feed and a website. The live video will be in the form of a newscast with public figures and experts and the website will function as a newspaper. The full scale exercise in 2007 is expected to be larger and more complex than any of the previous TOPOFF exercises and will include an expected 15,000 participants. (Martin, GSN Magazine) “TOPOFF 4 will be the ultimate challenge of the ability to respond and to coordinate the response among a great number of agencies and organizations in a simulated worst case scenario,” said Jim Papineau, AMTI’s president and CEO. With each exercise, the complexity grows and TOPOFF 4 is expected to be the ultimate challenge to respond and to coordinate the response among a great number of agencies. Planning and preparing for TOPOFF 4 has taken about a year and a half to complete even though the actual event will last less than 10 days. The scope of the first 2 TOPOFF exercises will be greatly expanded in TOPOFF 4 and the upcoming full scale exercise is expected to set new standards in response. Martin, Josh. “Consulting firm to lead nest year’s TOPOFF 4 Training Exercise” GSN Magazine November 2006 http://www.gsnmagazine.com/nov_06/topoff4_training/html Meldon, Michael. “Homeland Security and Defense Business Council Continues Its Partnership with DHS by Helping to Organize TOPOFF 4” HSDBC Press Release June 05, 2006 http://www.homelandcouncil.org/news.php?newsid=102 Office of the Press Secretary: “U.S. Department of Homeland Security Announces Completion of TOPOFF 4 Command Post Exercise to Address Counterterrorism Preparedness and Response Capabilities” June 25, 2006 http://www.domesticpreparedness.com/ U.S. Department of Homeland Security Announces Completion of TOPOFF 4 Command Post Exercise http://www.emsvillage.com/articles/article.cfm?id=1946 Websites for more information: U.S. Department of State http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/fs/2002/12129.htm AMTI, (An Operation of SAIC) http://www.amti.net/news/092006_T4.htm The Department of Homeland Security http://www.dhs.gov/index.shtm |