EXERCISES

NOT FOR THE WEAK MINDED OR WEAK HEARTED

PREPARING FOR TERRORISM AND DISASTERS

compiled by Dee Finney

 

NORAD/ USNORTHCOM/ FEMA, National Level Exercise Begins In May http://www.norad.mil/News/2008/042808.html

NORAD, USNORTHCOM to train in national exercise

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. – North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command will exercise their response abilities to a variety of events during an intensive eight-day national level exercise in May.

National Level Exercise 2-08 will run May 1-8 and will exercise national capabilities to prepare and respond to multiple incidents including both natural disasters and terrorist incidents. The exercise will include hurricane preparedness and response and Defense Support to Civil Authorities coordination in response to a weapon of mass destruction terrorist attack.

USNORTHCOM’s primary exercise venues for NLE 2-08 include locations in Washington and Oregon. Exercise scenarios include multiple terrorist attacks in the state of Washington, an accidental chemical agent release in Oregon, a Category 4 hurricane impacting the mid-Atlantic Coast and the National Capitol Region region and aerospace events throughout North America.

NLE 2-08 will also involve agencies including the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA, U.S. Transportation Command and the National Guard. Canada Command will participate through its Staunch Maple exercise.

“Exercises like NLE 2 – 08 give us the opportunity to work with other federal agencies, state and local officials, as well as Canada, in the response to multiple events,” said Gene Pino, NORAD and USNORTHCOM Joint Training and Exercise director. “This allows us to look at processes and procedures to identify strengths and weaknesses by stressing the system so that we can be better prepared in the future.”

NORAD, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary in May, is the bi-national Canadian and American command responsible for the air defense of North America and maritime warning for Canada and the United States.

U.S. Northern Command was established on Oct. 1, 2002, to anticipate and conduct homeland defense and civil support operations within the assigned area of responsibility to defend, protect, and secure the United States and its interests.

-30-

NOTE FOR MEDIA ORGANIZATIONS: For more information on the exercise or for potential media coverage during the exercise, please contact Lt. Cmdr. Gary Ross at the NORAD and USNORTHCOM Public Affairs Office, 719-554-6889 or gary.ross@northcom.mil .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=43299

National Level Exercise Begins In May

Release Date: April 24, 2008
Release Number: HQ-08-063

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Exercise Program (NEP) will conduct National Level Exercise 2-08 (NLE 2-08) a combined functional and full scale exercise from May 1 through May 8. NLE 2-08 will merge the objectives of U.S. Northern Command's (NORTHCOM) Ardent Sentry 2008 exercise, FEMA National Continuity Program's (NCP) Eagle Horizon 2008 exercise (formerly known as Forward Challenge), and FEMA Disaster Operation's Hurricane Preparedness Exercise (HPE).

The purpose of NLE 2-08 is to exercise national capabilities to prepare and respond to multiple incidents including both natural disasters and terrorist incidents. The exercise was designed to include scenario elements addressing hurricane preparedness and response, national continuity capabilities, and Defense Support to Civil Authorities coordination in response to weapons of mass destruction terrorist attacks. The exercise venues involve a Category 4 hurricane impacting the Mid Atlantic Coast and the National Capitol Region and multiple terrorist attacks in Washington State.

Also during NLE 2-08, the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP) will test it's response to an accidental chemical agent release at the Umatilla Chemical Depot in Oregon. Canada will also participate through their Staunch Maple Exercise.

The exercise allows Federal officials to implement continuity plans, test communications connectivity, operations and procedures for performing essential government functions from alternate locations, and interagency coordination. Additionally, it serves to demonstrate that essential functions can be effectively conducted during threats and emergencies.

NLE 2-08 is a NEP exercise conducted within the five year exercise schedule. The NEP is the nation's overarching homeland security exercise program, provides the federal government with a national, interagency wide program and a multi-year planning system to focus, coordinate, plan, conduct, execute, evaluate and prioritize national security and homeland security preparedness-related exercise activities.

FEMA coordinates the federal government's role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror.

This release has been modified from its original version.

 
Iran Encounter Grimly Echoes ’02 War Game

THOM SHANKER
NY Times
Saturday January 12, 2008

WASHINGTON — There is a reason American military officers express grim concern over the tactics used by Iranian sailors last weekend: a classified, $250 million war game in which small, agile speedboats swarmed a naval convoy to inflict devastating damage on more powerful warships.

In the days since the encounter with five Iranian patrol boats in the Strait of Hormuz, American officers have acknowledged that they have been studying anew the lessons from a startling simulation conducted in August 2002. In that war game, the Blue Team navy, representing the United States, lost 16 major warships — an aircraft carrier, cruisers and amphibious vessels — when they were sunk to the bottom of the Persian Gulf in an attack that included swarming tactics by enemy speedboats.

“The sheer numbers involved overloaded their ability, both mentally and electronically, to handle the attack,” said Lt. Gen. Paul K. Van Riper, a retired Marine Corps officer who served in the war game as commander of a Red Team force representing an unnamed Persian Gulf military. “The whole thing was over in 5, maybe 10 minutes.”

If the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, proved to the public how terrorists could transform hijacked airliners into hostage-filled cruise missiles, then the “Millennium Challenge 2002” war game with General Van Riper was a warning to the armed services as to how an adversary could apply similar, asymmetrical thinking to conflict at sea.

General Van Riper said he complained at the time that important lessons of his simulated victory were not adequately acknowledged across the military. But other senior officers say the war game and subsequent analysis and exercises helped to focus attention on the threat posed by Iran’s small, fast boats, and helped to prepare commanders for last weekend’s encounter.

“It’s clear, strategically, where the Iranian military has gone,” Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters on Friday. “For the years that this strategic shift toward their small, fast boats has taken place, we’ve been very focused on that.”

In the simulation, General Van Riper sent wave after wave of relatively inexpensive speedboats to charge at the costlier, more advanced fleet approaching the Persian Gulf. His force of small boats attacked with machine guns and rockets, reinforced with missiles launched from land and air. Some of the small boats were loaded with explosives to detonate alongside American warships in suicide attacks. That core tactic of swarming played out in real life last weekend, though on a much more limited scale and without any shots fired.

According to Pentagon and Navy officials, five small patrol boats belonging to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps charged a three-ship Navy convoy, maneuvering around and between an American destroyer, cruiser and frigate during a tense half-hour encounter. The location was where the narrow Strait of Hormuz meets the open waters of the Persian Gulf — the same choke point chosen by General Van Riper for his attack.

In the encounter last Sunday, the commander of one American warship trained an M240 machine gun — which fires upward of 10 armor-piercing slugs per second — on an Iranian boat that pulled within 200 yards of the American vessel. But the Iranians turned away before the commander gave the order to fire.

That was not the case in the simulation, sponsored by the military’s Joint Forces Command. The victory of the force modeled after a Persian Gulf state — a composite of Iran and Iraq — astounded sponsors of what was then the largest joint war-fighting exercise ever held, involving 13,500 military members and civilians battling in nine live exercise ranges in the United States, and double that many computer simulations to replicate a number of different battles.

General Van Riper’s attack was much more complex and sophisticated than anything that could have involved the Iranian boats last weekend. The broad outline of the 2002 war game was reported at the time, but in interviews since last weekend’s episode, General Van Riper and other officers have provided new details about the simulation.

In the war game, scores of adversary speedboats and larger naval vessels had been shadowing and hectoring the Blue Team fleet for days. The Blue Team defenses also faced cruise missiles fired simultaneously from land and from warplanes, as well as the swarm of speedboats firing heavy machine guns and rockets — and pulling alongside to detonate explosives on board.

When the Red Team sank much of the Blue navy despite the Blue navy’s firing of guns and missiles, it illustrated a cheap way to beat a very expensive fleet. After the Blue force was sunk, the game was ordered to begin again, with the Blue Team eventually declared the victor.

In a telephone interview, General Van Riper recalled that his idea of a swarming attack grew from Marine Corps studies of the natural world, where insects and animals — from tiny ant colonies to wolf packs — move in groups to overwhelm larger prey.

“It is not a matter of size or of individual capability, but whether you have the numbers and come from multiple directions in a short period of time,” he said.

Although Washington and Tehran continue to duel over details of the encounter, American officials say the Iranians may have been seeking to provoke a violent confrontation as President Bush was about to visit the region. Or, the officials say, they might have been hoping to test the American reaction. Yet there is no certainty that the encounter was ordered by the government in Tehran.

Pentagon officials on Friday said there were two encounters with small Iranian boats in the region last month. In one, a Navy warship fired warning shots and in the other a warning whistle was sounded. Both encounters ended without injury after the Iranian vessels turned away.

Regardless, American sailors have not forgotten how a small boat that hid among refueling and garbage vessels off a port in Yemen detonated alongside the American destroyer Cole in October 2000, killing 17 Americans and crippling the warship.

 

“Powerful Iran” war game to be held
Tehran Times Political Desk
 

TEHRAN, Oct. 20 , 2007 (MNA) – A massive war game codenamed “powerful Iran” will be held near Qom on October 23-25, the Commander of Basij (volunteer) Forces in Ministries and Organizations Masoud Chinigar-Zadeh said on Saturday.

The maneuver in which ten thousand Basijs will participate is aimed at boosting the Basij forces’ defense capabilities, Chinigar-Zadeh insisted.

The commander said the main characteristic of this war game is that it will be held far from capital Tehran and in the vicinity of Qom.

Through maneuvers Basijs show that they are always prepared to protect the country’s borders against any possible invasion by the enemies, he pointed out
 

 
 

 

A Better Prepared America Through Practice and Preparation

Exercises are a critical part of a Better Prepared America. Our exercises strive to train first responders so that they can practice prevention, reduce vulnerabilities, and hone recovery capabilities in a risk-free environment.

Our goal is to help states, cities, towns and villages gain an objective assessment of their capacity to prevent or respond to and recover from a disaster so that modifications or improvements can be made before a real incident occurs.

TOPOFF 4: Exercising National Preparedness

Top Officials 4 (TOPOFF 4) is the most comprehensive terrorism exercise ever conducted in the United States. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), TOPOFF 4 is the fourth exercise in the TOPOFF Exercise Series, a Congressionally mandated exercise program.

TOPOFF is designed to strengthen the nation's capacity to prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks involving weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). This National-level exercise provides the means to conduct "full-scale, full system tests" of collective preparedness, interoperability, and collaboration across all levels of the State, Federal, International government and the private sector.

TOPOFF 4 involves a two-year cycle of seminars, planning events, and exercises that culminate in a Full-Scale Exercise to take place on October 15-24, 2007.

Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP)

The Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) is a capabilities and performance-based exercise program that provides a standardized policy, methodology, and language for designing, developing, conducting, and evaluating all exercises.

In addition to providing a standardized exercise policy, HSEEP also facilitates the creation of self-sustaining, capabilities-based exercise programs by providing tools and resources such as guidance, training, technology, and direct support. This blended approach to HSEEP implementation promotes exercise expertise, while advancing a standardized means of assessing and improving preparedness across the Nation.

For more information on HSEEP, see the website at: http://hseep.dhs.gov

LOCATIONS AND CONCERNS OF EVENTS FOR TOPOFF  PDF

 

NORTHCOM Plans 5 Day Martial Law Exercise
Published on Wednesday, September 05, 2007.

 By Lee Rogers - Intel Strike Contributing Writer
 
The United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) has just announced plans for an anti-terrorism exercise called Vigilant Shield 08. The exercise which is slated to run from October 15th to October 20th is described as a way to prepare, prevent and respond to any number of national crises. The exercise is simply a test case scenario for the implementation of martial law. Although the description of the exercise is disturbing, USNORTHCOM also announced that they are more prepared for a natural disaster and a terrorist attack after they used their response to Hurricane Katrina as a test laboratory. During Hurricane Katrina, authorities violated the constitutional rights of citizens by stealing people’s firearms and even relocating people against their will. These announcements are incredibly disturbing on a number of levels as the nature of Vigilant Shield 08 and the admission that Hurricane Katrina was used as a test laboratory shows that the government is actively preparing the military and government institutions for martial law.
Below is the full press release from USNORTHCOM describing Vigilant Shield 08. Also check out the Vigilant Shield 08 fact sheet by clicking here.

North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command along with U.S. Pacific Command, the Department of Homeland Security as well as local, state and other federal responders will exercise their response abilities against a variety of potential threats during Exercise Vigilant Shield ‘08, a Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff-designated, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM)-sponsored, and U.S. Joint Forces Command-supported Department of Defense exercise for homeland defense and defense support of civil authorities missions.

VS-08 will be conducted concurrent with Top Officials 4 (TOPOFF 4), the nation’s premier exercise of terrorism preparedness sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security, and several other linked exercises as part of the National Level Exercise 1-08. These linked exercises will take place Ocober 15-20 and are being conducted throughout the United States and in conjunction with several partner nations including Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, as well as the Territory of Guam.

VS-08 and National Level Exercise 1-08 will provide local, state, tribal, interagency, Department of Defense, and non-governmental organizations and agencies involved in homeland security and homeland defense the opportunity to participate in a full range of exercise scenarios that will better prepare participants to prevent and respond to national crises. The participating organizations will conduct a multi-layered, civilian-led response to a national crisis.

USNORTHCOM’s primary exercise venues for VS-08 include locations in Oregon, Arizona and a cooperative venue with USPACOM in the Territory of Guam. NORAD’s aerospace detection and defense events will take place across all the exercise venues, to exercise the ability to mobilize resources for aerospace defense, aerospace control, maritime warning, and coordination of air operations in a disaster area.

This exercise is clearly a way to prepare government to respond to a national crisis with martial law. This announcement also follows a number of other news stories that indicate the government is becoming more actively prepared for the implementation of martial law.

These stories include the following:

George W. Bush issuing a presidential directive declaring that he is a dictator during the case of a national emergency be it a natural disaster, a terror attack or any number of crises.

KSLA reporting that members of clergy will be used to convince people to submit to government in the case of declare martial law. See the video below.

The U.S. Department of Treasury conducting a disaster drill to prepare for a potential economic crisis.

In addition to the announcement of Vigilant Shield 08, USNORTHCOM also announced that they have been using the lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina to better respond to crises. The response to Hurricane Katrina was essentially used as a test laboratory to implement martial law in a city. People were forced to relocate against their will and authorities stole people’s firearms in the name of safety despite these actions being entirely unconstitutional.

From USNORTHCOM:

“Hurricane Katrina’s impact on this country was unprecedented. There are still many of our fellow Americans whose lives still haven’t returned to normal,” said Gen. Gene Renuart, commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command and USNORTHCOM. “It will take many years for the Gulf Coast to fully recover.

“The United States military was deeply involved in the response to the hurricane and subsequent flooding,” Renuart said. “While our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines helped thousands of people, we also learned many lessons.”

According to Renuart, USNORTHCOM has been using the lessons learned from Katrina to modify plans to respond to both natural disasters and potential terrorist actions.

Northern Command also admits in the same article that they have pre-scripted mission assignments coordinated with FEMA to implement martial law under the pretext of disaster response.

From USNORTHCOM:

USNORTHCOM is ready to help federal, state and local officials to be prepared for a major hurricane and to be successful at conducting response operations, if necessary and requested by the primary responding agency. Some of the ways these objectives are being achieved are:

Through State Engagement programs, USNORTHCOM provides planning support to help states prepare for emergencies.

USNORTHCOM and its subordinates, as well as local, state and federal partners conduct major disaster exercises to refine processes and apply lessons learned.

Working with FEMA, USNORTHCOM has prepared pre-scripted mission assignments to accelerate the disaster response process.

USNORTHCOM conducted a major exercise with the National Guard in May to refine the interface between the National Guard and DoD.

There is no question that Vigilant Shield 08 is either government preparation for the implementation of martial law or a way for criminal elements within the government to distract emergency responders in order to conduct a false flag terror attack as a pretext to actually implement martial law and engage in foreign war. On September 11th, 2001 there were drills run by NORAD including Vigilant Guardian which served as a way to ensure that there was no adequate military response to the hi-jacked planes. A similar scenario unfolding with Vigilant Shield is not out of the question.

~~~~~

Portland PD thwarts Chertoff/SAIC bomb plot

     
    Heroic local officers with the Portland Police department did an explosive sweep on vehicles belonging to criminal elements connected to Mossad agent Michael Chertoff.  Cherotff was in town to participate in a SAIC-scripted "terror drill." Counterterrorism analysts in the blogosphere had voiced concern that Chertoff would use the opportunity to take the drill "live," blaming a false-flag attack on Iran.

    Portland activists should be commended for alerting local law enforcement as to who the real terrorists are.
    From Portland's The Oregonian October 18, 2007 22:50PM:

    "Portland police cordoned off several blocks around the Lloyd Center, marking off the area with thousands of feet of yellow tape blowing in the afternoon wind. They also shut down MAX trains through the area, and alerted people inside the hotel and surrounding buildings. Some in those buildings chose to evacuate, while others remained in place.

    By 3:45 p.m., Police spokesman Brian Schmautz said officials "were comfortable" there was nothing sinister going on. Shortly after that, TriMet spokeswoman Peggy LaPoint said the red and blue MAX lines were back open in both directions through the area.

    Nonetheless, Topoff activities at the hotel were quickly canceled earlier in the afternoon. Schmautz said officers had been sweeping the area in advance of visits by Chertoff and high-ranking military personnel using a pair of "explosives sensitive" police dogs. "One dog got an alert at this car. The second dog was called in and also gave an alert." A third dog later came to the parking garage, and had the same reaction as the first two.

    Authorities initially focused on one vehicle, which turned out to be owned by a participant in the Topoff exercise.
    -----

 

 
Subject: Re: 20070911-0636 -  FALSE FLAG EVEN ON SEPTEMBER 14TH?

Fw: Israel has no flights leaving New York on Sep.14 Not booked up But No


I heard El Al was going to cancel all flights out of NYC this morning on the Powerhour, but I couldn't find any documentation. That's the same day Bush orders all the US military jets to stand down.  May be that's the same day we go into Syria to attack Iran.  We have assets in the gulf and Military Planes stationed in their CIA stronghold in Riyadh Saudi Arabia, where HW Bush has his Vinnell Corp. The Vinnell Corporation is an international private military company based in the United States specializing in military training, logistics, and support in the form of weapon systems maintenance and management consultancy, whose most recent claim to fame is their training of portions of the Saudi Arabian National Guard as a joint Saudi/American owned company called Vinnell Arabia. Vinnell Corporation is a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman Corporation. They are also party to other joint venture companies; i.e., VBR (Vinnell-Brown & Root). Israel carried out air strikes in Syria.

Syria-Israel bombing incident shrouded in mystery

By Alastair Macdonald Fri Sep 7, 2007

 http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/syria_israel_dc

Syria complains about Israel to UN

By SAM F. GHATTAS, A P 09/11/07

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070911/ap_on_re_mi_ea/syria_israel;_ylt=AlF.Tg2sbnHJxJa3Vtnq1FwE1vAI

Osama was a CIA creation and now there's a second Bin Laden tape and Gen. Betrayus is testifying before Congress
just in time for 911.  C-Span 3 http://www.cspan.org/

Be prepared for another false flag event in the US on September 14th.   Bush will blame Iran as the nominated enemy,
followed by martial law.  Chertoff has had another "gut feeling," stating small planes and boats could carry WMD, again
 telegraphing his punches.
 
Cheney Determined To Strike In US With WMD This Summer

Only Impeachment, Removal or General Strike Can Stop Him

By Webster G. Tarpley 07-21-07
http://www.rense.com/general77/chens.htm
 
Meanwhile Bush is exploiting the grief of 911 relatives.  What a media extravaganza.  
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2007 12:09 PM
Subject: Re: 20070911-0636 - Fw: Israel has no flights leaving New York on Sep.14 Not booked up ButNo
 
"WAKE UP FOOLS" !
 
 
IRAN is the war cry of this administarion today.......... De'ja` vu ?????????????
--
"We are the generation that shook up the old order and dared to dream big"...Susan Crandell

It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog. -M.Twain

"Today, we need a nation of Minutemen, citizens who are not only prepared to take arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as the basic purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom." -- John F. Kennedy

"Fascism will come to this country and it will come disguised as Americanism." -- Governor Huey Long.

Who controls the food supply controls the people; who controls the energy can control whole continents; who controls money can control the world." -- Henry Kissinger


http://www.infowars.com/index.html --- http://jackblood.netfirms.com/home/ ---- http://impeachforpeace.org/index.php
 
-------------- Original message --------------
From: "Jacques Hardy" <jacques.hardy@sympatico.ca>
 
20070911-0636: A PERSONAL LETTER... FORWARD IT TO MILLIONS AND IT MAY SAVE THE UNITED STATES FROM ITSELF !
 
WAKE UP FOOLS !
 
    The message below is just one of a great many, many similar ones,  which I am now constantly receiving from South of the border.  The way I translate it all from American English to Canadian English is like this:
 
    All the American fools have to come out of their stupidity and rush immediately to Washington D.C., there to TOTALLY DESTROY ALL THE MEMBERS OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT.  If people do that, they will be saved from a government engineered disaster, if they don't,  they should not be surprised to get what they deserve  ! ! !   This may not happen exactly on the 14th, but anyway between today and the end of October 2007.
 
    Remember, five nuclear bombs (plus a sixth for Montreal) (Oops! that is where I am), that may not seem to be a lot,  yet I predict that it will signal the end of the Evil Empire. 
 
Jacques Hardy
An old guy from Canada where we keep our head cool and our feet hot.
   
   
Sent: Monday, September 10, 2007 10:58 PM
Subject: Israel has no flights leaving New York on Sep.14 Not booked up But No Flights ?? !

On the same day the U.S. Air Force will be standing down !
 
Hal Turner Show: http://www.halturnershow.com/  
 
    ISRAELI AIRLINE HAS "NO FLIGHTS" DEPARTING NEW YORK ON FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 14:
NOTE THEY AREN'T SAYING "NO SEATS AVAILABLE" BUT INSTEAD "NO FLIGHT"
 
CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Strange that the main airline in Israel suddenly has "no flight" from the biggest jew population center outside of Israel on the very same day that the entire US Air Force will be "standing down." 
 
    A lot of people said that 4,000 jews didn't show up to work at the World Trade Center in New York on 9-11. Jews seemed to "know" some big attack was going to take place that day and they didn't go to work. By the way, on 9-11, the U.S. Air Force was ordered to "stand down" while those attacks were taking place!
 
    Here we are six years later, the neo-cons are taking all sorts of flak over the Iraq war; the US economy is headed into financial collapse, the jews still want the US to attack Iran but they can't overcome public opinion so. . . . . . another "terrorist attack" on the US would do the trick!
 
    Strange then, that El Al has no flights from NYC on Friday Sept. 14. . .  Is this a HINT? Do the jews know something about Sept 14 the way they seemed to know about 9-11??
 
    Comments on off-site comment area (14) Updated 10 September 2007 at 1821 HRS EDT
SPECIAL PROGRAMMING NOTICE: THE TURNER RADIO NETWORK WILL RE-BROADCAST THE HAL TURNER SHOW INTERVIEW OF DR. WILLIAM PIERCE IN OBSERVANCE OF DR. PIERCE BIRTHDAY, 9-11

The show will air from 7:00 - 9:00 PM EDT, then re-air again 2 hours later (after "YAHWEH's Truth" with Pastor Jim Wickstrom and the ARYAN NATIONS radio hour) from 11:00 - 1:00 AM. Pierce spent two hours on the Hal Turner show in 2002 just a few months before he was diagnosed with cancer to which he later succumbed that same year.

Comments on off-site comment area (9)
Updated 10 September 2007 at 1236 HRS EDT
 
    AIR FORCE TIMES CONFIRMS: ENTIRE U.S. AIR FORCE WILL STAND DOWN THIS FRIDAY!  CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES WILL HAVE ZERO FIGHTER AIRCRAFT TO PROTECT THE NATION  Despite our own CIA Director making a rare public speech claiming
 
Al-Qaida is planning "high-impact attacks against the U.S. Homeland" our Air Force has taken steps to make our entire country vulnerable to such attacks on September 14.  In an order given to all fighter pilots and bomber pilots, the entire U.S. Air Force will "stand down" on Friday September 14.  We will have ZERO air defense for the entire country on that day!
 
    They have ordered this stand down after five nuclear bombs were "accidentally shipped by plane from Minot AFB in North Dakota to Bartsdale AFB in Louisiana on a B-52 bomber. The military says they need to stand down to go over nuclear protocols.

What is very odd about this order is that Fighter jets NEVER carry nuclear bombs. Only Bombers carry nuclear warheads. So why are fighter pilots also being ordered to stand down?

If a terrorist attack takes place on September 14, then we know that our own government made it possible with a military stand-down order.
 
    If such an attack takes place, We The People of the United States will be left with no choice but to exercise our "original right of self defense" and remove our government from power by any and all means necessary, barring nothing.
 
    Those in government are hereby warned:  If your stand down order allows a terrorist attack to occur, we will come for you.
                     
Christian Radio Host Questions Air Combat Command's Decision to Stand Down on Friday

Contact: Ryan Rose, 423-559-7820

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., September 10 /Christian Newswire/ -- "Insanity, seditious complicity, or a planned provocation to induce horrific terror attacks. I can't think of any other explanation for the ludicrous decision." That's the conclusion exclaimed by Christian radio talk show host Rick Wiles who is outraged over the United States Air Combat Command's announcement that it will stand down on Friday, September 14.

Wiles, host of the Trunews radio program, is referring to the announcement by the U.S. Air Force that the entire Air Combat Command will stand down for a day following the incident involving the B-52 bomber that transported nuclear-armed missiles without the crew's knowledge.

The Air Force Times reported that the entire command – about 100,000 active-duty airmen – will be in military classrooms on Friday. The stand down was ordered by the Air Combat Command chief General Ronald Keys.

Wiles said he is stunned by the stand down orders. "Does General Keys know that Osama bin Laden recently resurfaced?" asked Wiles. "Why would America's entire Air Combat Command stand down precisely when America's top enemy stands up?"

Another thing that puzzles the talk show host is why the Air Combat Command publicly announced the stand down. "First, the decision to stand down defies logic and common sense. Even worse, the decision to tell the whole world is more bizarre," stated Wiles. Wiles also questions why the training isn't staggered over several weeks so all of the command's air bases aren't shut down simultaneously.

Wiles said Gen. Keys' stand down orders came as CIA Director General Michael Hayden told the Council on Foreign Relations that al-Qaeda's leadership is planning high-impact plots against the United States of America "that would produce mass casualties, dramatic destruction and significant economic aftershocks."

Wiles said, "There's something wrong with this picture. The CIA chief is openly warning that al-Qaeda is plotting attacks on U.S. soil that could kill large numbers of Americans and wreck our economy. At the same time, the commander of the Air Combat Command has told al-Qaeda and every other enemy that we won't have air defenses for an entire day or longer. This makes absolutely no sense." The talk show host said he wants to know if General Keys was pressured by Washington officials to order the stand down.

Wiles' entire statement can be read at http://www.trunews.com/christianradio.htm. For more information or an interview, contact Ryan Rose at (423) 559-7820 or email Ryan@Trunews.com.

 

Sunday, September 02, 2007

Untitled Terrorism: Do You Know Where Your Children Are? Hat Tip to Benjamin for the email, I will link here to his weblog when I get the address.

We have seen a story or two, now and then, on this subject but the media firestorm that  we would expect hasn't materialized and we have to wonder why.

Before I show you some very disturbing facts, let me ask you a couple of questions.

Do you have children of school age? Do you drive them to school or do they get picked up by a bus? Do you walk them out to the bus, hand them their lunch money or a bagged lunched, kiss them goodbye and wave as they are leaving? Do they run outside on their own to catch their bus? Do you look at the bus driver and recognize them as the same person day after day? Or is it a new driver today?

Homeland security:
Over the summer months, and while your attention has been upon everything but school, at least 17 school buses have been stolen from a variety of student transportation concerns, including private companies, charter schools and businesses. These thefts occurred within a specific geographical suburb of Houston. No known threat? Oh, yes, there is a very real promissory threat from Islamic terrorists to kill several million American children; this is just one avenue to accomplish that Islamic promise. Figuratively, this falling “tree” is a threat to our children and also involves a transportation system. Did you hear it?

Lets get denial out of the way shall we?

9/11 took years to plan on the part of Islamic extremists, it was a coordinated effort that took forethought, training and men prepared to die to make a "statement".

It is clear that schools are a possible target for terrorists. Aside from Beslan and the dozens of other school attacks over the past 37 years, it has been reported that the U.S. military has found information in Iraq pertaining to U.S. schools, and in September 2004 the FBI notified school districts in six states that photographs, diagrams, and emergency plans had been found in the possession of unidentified individuals.

In 2002, before those captured documents in Iraq, the New York State Education Department set up Terrorism Preparedness Guidelines.
Perhaps a good place to start is to establish a working definition of terrorism. We have defined terrorism as: premeditated threats or acts of violence committed by politically motivated persons whose intent is to intimidate or cause serious physical harm to a specific group of people.

Most Emergency Management Plans include school buses merely as a means of shelter and a method of transportation away from a disaster. We are urging you to seriously consider your big yellow buses as an actual target of terrorism and to take steps to avert any such incidents.



In 2003, Worldnet.daily as well as multiple other news organizations brought us news of videos obtained and shot in Afghanistan of rehearsals of shooting school children and taking hostages.


Videos depicting a mock al-Qaida siege of schools and golf course assassinations are now being reported by other news agencies, confirming an exclusive report by WorldNetDaily last year.

The New York Post says the al-Qaida tapes include the rehearsed shooting of schoolchildren and the taking of hostages.

The training exercise reportedly took place under the guidance of al-Qaida operations chief Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks who is now in U.S. custody.

The location was an abandoned school in Mir Bach Kot, Afghanistan, north of Kabul, a hotbed of al-Qaida activity before the U.S. and allied forces ousted the Taliban.

Former Green Beret Keith "Jack" Idema discovered the tapes in an abandoned house while serving as an adviser to the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance.

He says the video shows bullet-ridden blackboards and cut-out targets in classrooms, apparently representing students and teachers.

"Knowing al-Qaida trained to take out a presidential motorcade or an office building is scary, but nothing is more frightening than their training to take over a school," Idema told the Post. "In a classroom in a camp near Jalalabad, we found little desks with bullet holes in them and the backs of the chairs each had seven or eight bullet holes in them. They were definitely aiming to hit critical mass."

Portions of the tapes viewed by the newspaper showed a hostage-taking exercise and three scenarios where masked men, armed with AK-47s, pistols and hand grenades, storm a school-like brick building. In one assault, two gunmen rappel from the roof onto a ledge and wait for the go-ahead via two-way radio.

The Post recounts the school assault in detail:
"Two of the kidnappers are sitting in the cafeteria," a narrator says in Arabic.

At the command "move!" a janitor sweeping a hallway inside drops his broom and pulls out a gun. Others burst into rooms, fire automatic weapons and bark English commands at a group of children and adults, apparently locals and other camp residents co-opted for the exercise.

"Sit," a hooded terrorist yells to the children, who shriek in horror. "Don't move, don't move," he says. The children are made to kneel and place their hands on the walls while adults stand with hands raised and are frisked.

The armed thugs then herd their captives down the hallways as they shout in English, "Go in here!" and "Don't move!" Some hostages are then ordered to the roof.

"I don't want to go," one sham victim pleads in Arabic.

"Go before I kill you," a rifle-toting thug barks back.

The camera then zooms in on a terrorist, who stomps on a child.

On the rooftop, a lookout announces the arrival of police. A terrorist then drags a "hostage" to the ledge for display.



The Post says other training exercises include an attack at a mock golf outing, as men dressed as caddies drop their bags, pull out guns and open fire.


 

HOMELAND INSECURITY
New nuclear terror drill sparks conspiracy scare
Soros-backed media outlet warns of plot for institution of martial law
Posted: August 19, 2007

By Joseph Farah
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

WASHINGTON – A U.S. military drill designed to enhance homeland security in the event of a nuclear terrorist attack has some officials and media outlets funded by billionaire George Soros warning it may be a "false flag" operation leading to the detonation of a real nuclear device to set the stage for martial law.

The exercise, part of the "Noble Resolve" program of the U.S. Joint Forces Command, is set for tomorrow through Friday in Portland, Ore. Like other previous drills, it involves coordination with local officials in a model nuclear attack.

The series of "Noble Resolve" experiments began April 23 in Suffolk, Va. They represent a follow-up to similar series of drills called Urban Resolve that took place in 2006.

The efforts bring together JFCOM, Northern Command, the Homeland Security Department and state and local officials to model responses to nuclear terrorist attacks.

During the experiments, which are largely based on computer modeling, the "bomb" explodes inside the simulation. "Noble Resolve," according to planners, strives to create processes for interactions among local, state, national and international officials.

Last April, a similar "Noble Resolve" exercise took place in Virginia.

However, despite the precedent, some officials and the IndyMedia organization supported by Soros are raising red flags – even claiming that in a similar exercise, President Bush ordered the destruction of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, and blamed it on radical Islamic terrorists.

Writing in NewOrleans.IndyMedia.org, Capt. Eric H. May, the military correspondent for the agency, asked the following question about the Portland drill: "But what if they decide to use a real bomb rather than simulate it?"

"A false flag attack is one in which you attack your own people, then blame it on a group of people you want to attack," wrote May. "It's a radical stratagem for instantly creating hatred, and it's common, historically speaking, all the way from ancient to modern times."

May gave the following examples:

  • The Roman emperor Nero burned Rome, then blamed it on emerging Christianity.
  • The German fuhrer Hitler burned the Reichstag, then blamed it on communist Jewry.
  • The American president Bush demolished the World Trade Center, then blamed it on radical Islam.

The jitters in Portland, according to May, caused Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., to grill the Bush administration about National Security Presidential Directive 51, first reported in WND, which authorizes the executive branch to assume extraordinary powers in the event of a national emergency.

"Maybe the people who think there's a conspiracy out there are right," DeFazio told the Portland Oregonian.

DeFazio, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said he was denied an opportunity to examine classified documents related to Directive 51.

"At this stage of the Bush regime and its terror-driven global war, there's no shame in conspiracy theory, since it's the only theory that offers consistent, coherent answers to our growing secret government and its terror policies," wrote May.

Meanwhile, Portland's version of IndyMedia, raises even more concerns about the impending exercises.

"There has been a growing concern over the mock or simulation events (nuclear attack and martial law) proposed to take place in Portland, Oregon, by Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other governmental agencies now called Operation Noble Resolve," reports the agency in an article titled "Don't Nuke Portland." "This mock event has been feared by some in the past to set up martial law in Portland during the months of August and September, but newer information has raised concern of graver fears."

The article goes on to speculate that an actual nuclear attack by the U.S. government might take place during the drill. It goes on to assert that the 9/11 attacks were a false flag operation and urges those who have been hired or volunteered to be a part of the exercise to refuse to participate.

"Why participate in a simulation that supposes an external attack on the USA when there seems to be more internal threat by enemies of democracy within?" poses the article.

Besides grants from Soros, IndyMedia.org has also received support from Teresa Heinz Kerry's Tides Foundation. The Ford Foundation has also offered support. Ralph Nader's Public Citizen organization also assists IndyMedia.org.

When star football player Pat Tillman was killed in Afghanistan, the The Portland, Ore., chapter of Indymedia.org posted the news of Tillman's death accompanied by this headline: "Dumb Jock Killed in Afghanistan."

According to its website, "Indymedia is a collective of independent media organizations and hundreds of journalists offering grass-roots, non-corporate coverage. Indymedia is a democratic media outlet for the creation of radical, accurate and passionate tellings of truth."

It maintains websites in 50 major American markets, five chapters in Africa, 13 in Canada, 39 in Europe, 15 in Latin America, eight in Asia, and nine in Oceania.

In light of the scare stories, the Portland Oregonian editorialized in favor of the drill and many local officials are participating in the exercise because they believe it is necessary to prepare for a worst-case scenario.

One nuclear terror expert said earlier this year the chances of a detonation in the U.S. in the next decade are 50 percent.

Also, about the same time, Vice President Dick Cheney said the threat of nuclear terrorism is very real.

"The fact is that the threat to the United States now of a 9/11 occurring with a group of terrorists armed not with airline tickets and box cutters, but with a nuclear weapon in the middle of one of our own cities is the greatest threat we face," he said. "It's a very real threat. It's something that we have to worry about and defeat every single day."

Meanwhile, the most extensive study of the effects of such an attack concluded the U.S. was woefully under-prepared to respond, particularly if the event took place in a major population center.

 


In 2006, CNN reported that our school bus drivers were receiving extensive training to watch for potential terrorist threats to our children, financed by the Homeland Security Department.

 

Designers of the program, called School Bus Watch, want to turn 600,000 drivers into an army of observers.

"We are going to teach you how to identify, evaluate, and record unusual activity," instructor Joe Van Aken tells his class of 20 school bus drivers in Brooklyn, New York.

Aken, a bus driver himself, does not want these drivers to confront anyone suspicious but to call the authorities. The more eyes on the road the safer we will all be, he tells his pupils.

It's not just bus drivers on the front lines in the fight against terrorism. Bank tellers, ham radio operators and truckers also are being asked by Homeland Security to be on the lookout.
The department wants the bus drivers to report any suspicious activity, regardless of how small. If an attack is imminent or has just occurred it is important for bus drivers to get the children out of harm's way and to contact their dispatcher or 911 immediately. They, in turn, will direct that information to a national analysis center.

The new effort is part of Highway Watch, a safety program run by the American Trucking Association and financed since 2003 with $50 million from Homeland Security. So far, tens of thousands of bus operators have been trained around the country.

Officials say schools and buses are considered "soft" targets for terrorists, and an attack on them could have huge symbolic impact and lead to many casualties and spectacular images.



We all know that nothing encourages and helps terrorist organizations more than spectacular images all over the television screen in every country.

Anyone prepared to deny that al-Qaeda still wants to hit us? Denying that we have evidence that they have planned, for years to attack us using our children?

If so, you aren't using the brain that God gave you.

Just because you are able to stick your head into the sand and deny the truth doesn't make it any less true.

So while we keep our attention focused on our airports, and while the battle here in America rages on regarding Iraq and while we are busy arguing about politics, buses are being stolen, plans for school attacks are being confiscated, videos of those attacks are being published and then promptly ignored and the question remains.

Do you know where your children are and who is driving them to school?

For a government that is constantly being accused of fear mongering by the left, isn't it kind of amazing that they have downplayed this to avoid panic.

Just another accusation or "talking dull" that the far left liberals like to throw around without acknowledging there is a threat because to acknowledge it would mean they might actually have to show the American public they take these threats seriously, which they cannot because the stigma of being weak on national security is true, they are and as long as they continue to live in their bubble of denial, they will continue to be weak and they will continue to be seen that way.

I would much rather be accused of being a fear mongerer than a defeatist that ignores all threats.

I would much rather be accused of being a war mongerer than a surrender monkey.

I would much rather listen to what are troops say to us and back them, as they ask us to, than to ignore them and claim to be ignoring them because we support them.

I would much rather we win this fight against terrorism than to hand it to the terrorists because it fits the Democratic "political" agenda.

I would much rather be called a neocon, than a liberal leftist that is weak on national security.

As labels go, I will admit to being what they call a neocon, will they admit to what they are, which is a liberal that has no plan to fight terrorism?

I doubt it, they never can admit to what they are.

To follow this up, please read Safe Havens International's piece by Chris Dorn, "School Bus Terrorism".

Take Our Country Back with "Untitled Terrorism".

Last but definitely not least, American Thinker "Terrorists Targeting Students"


Tracked back by:
Untitled Terrorism from Miss Beth's Victory Dance...
http://wwwwakeupamericans-spree.blogspot.com/2007/09/untitled-terrorism-do-you-know-where.html

 

 

Portland to Host Terrorism Drill “NOBLE RESOLVE 07-2”
Published on Sunday, August 19, 2007.

 
Source: Oregon Truth Alliance
 
This is an urgent advisory notice from concerned citizens of Oregon and Washington about an upcoming U.S. Joint Forces Command emergency management exercise known as NOBLE RESOLVE 07-2 that will simulate terrorism or disaster scenarios in the Lower Columbia River Basin between Aug. 20th and Aug 24th, 2007.

NOBLE RESOLVE 07-2 was designed and will be directed by U.S. Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) and the Department of Homeland Security. We are aware of no public notice concerning this exercise, but preliminary investigation has revealed that Oregon National Guard officials and federal officials will conduct the drill. Details from official sources are minimal.

This advisory is to document our concerns, raise public awareness and urge citizen action based on the following facts:

1. NOBLE RESOLVE is a computer-based simulation of a large-scale emergency situation (e.g. earthquake, hurricane, tsunami, or terrorist attack with nuclear weapon) in order to train for managing all aspects of the emergency response through comprehensive software.
 
2. Military exercises such as NOBLE RESOLVE 07-2 have a recent history of coinciding with lethal “live” events. This occurred both at the start of Desert Storm in 1990 and on 9/11/01 when five or more major military or security exercises were in progress on the very day of the actual attacks. The same phenomenon occurred with the London Bombings of 7/7/05 during which a drill concerning multiple bomb attacks was being staged on that day.

3. Vice President Cheney, Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff and former Senator Rick Santorum have all warned of a new 9/11 attack this summer, but are giving no evidence in support. Chertoff based his prediction on a “gut feeling”.

4. The May 2007 Presidential Directive NSPD 51 (HSPD 20) addressing “continuity of government” in the event of a massive emergency, includes secret "annexes" which are pertinent additional documents. Some US Congressional Committee on Homeland Security members such as Rep. Peter DeFazio have written to formally request permission to review these secret "annexes" and have twice been denied access by the White House.

5. This particular exercise, NOBLE RESOLVE 07-2, includes one scenario involving an unaccounted for, "loose," ten kiloton nuclear weapon, exactly as Vice President Cheney hinted in recent interviews. Department of Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff claims he fears the same.

6. The plummeting support for the GOP has triggered comments from its members and analyses of its current political strategy that point to a new 9/11 attack as a contributing factor to GOP political salvation. Moreover, it appears that legends or back stories are being disseminated to support just such an event.

Transparency concerning NOBLE RESOLVE 07-2 is vital for the public safety of everyone in the Lower Columbia River Basin. We call on the planners, directors and participants in NOBLE RESOLVE 07-2 to be vigilant and to maintain transparency with respect to these military exercises. We also urge citizens and our elected officials to monitor the activities of participants connected with the exercises and alert authorities to any suspicious behavior. These exercises have an established pattern of becoming “live” events. (Please read references below.) We recommend that officials of the Ports of Astoria, Longview, Vancouver and Portland on the Lower Columbia River take extra care in their monitoring and examination of all shipping on the Lower Columbia River while NOBLE RESOLVE 07-2 is in progress. Finally, we urge all concerned to voice that concern in letters and calls to elected officials and civil servants requesting full transparency and citizen oversight.

REFERENCES:

1. About Noble Resolve
“Four days of “simulated” nuclear terrorist scenarios in the US & Europe” http://tinyurl.com/ynq8oq
USJFOCM - 1 http://www.jfcom.mil/index.htm
USJFOCM – 2: http://tinyurl.com/328eoj

2. History of Military Exercises Coinciding with live events
Internal Look Simulation of Iraq Invading Kuwait Coincides with Start of Desert Storm
Norman Schwarzkopf: "We went ahead and did an exercise, what's called a command post exercise, which is what Internal Look was to test our ability to deal with this particular scenario ... Just so happened we were in the middle of conducting the Internal Look command post exercise at the same time the crisis developed in the gulf." http://tinyurl.com/yt3v2k
NYC / Washington DC / Pennsylvania on 9/11/01
 http://tinyurl.com/bdfsv
London Bombings
 http://tinyurl.com/8um9d

3. New 9/11 warnings
Cheney http://tinyurl.com/3bqxq4(page 8)
Chertoff http://tinyurl.com/2routa
Al Qaeda http://tinyurl.com/2peoqb
Santorum http://tinyurl.com/ypkybx

4. NSPD 51 Grants Martial Law authority
Text of NSPD 51
 http://tinyurl.com/yqthor
DeFazio denied access to COG plans
 http://tinyurl.com/36snph

5. Scenario Involving Nuclear Attack in Portland
Harvard Study Maps Results of 10 Kiloton Nuclear Blast in Portland, OR http://tinyurl.com/2fmtpl(Pg. 9)
Ten kiloton nuclear bomb fact sheet http://tinyurl.com/2q48qa

6. Associating terrorist act to revival of GOP
Republican Party of Arkansas http://tinyurl.com/27hgez(3rd para. from end)
Paul Craig Roberts http://tinyurl.com/38wn5v

Portland Connections:
Uncertain future (Portland, Oregon) Oregon gets terror drills http://tinyurl.com/26we5b
Portland Withdraws from Joint Terrorism Task Force http://tinyurl.com/2564to
Swan Island Networks is providing logistical support for Operation Noble Resolve http://tinyurl.com/ytza2a
http://tinyurl.com/2adgch
Mobius & Swan Island http://tinyurl.com/2zsgsa
Maersk Lines now primary US military shipper http://tinyurl.com/23ssy8
Maersk Lines involved with NOBLE RESOVE http://tinyurl.com/2q48qa
SeaSecure & Mobius http://www.seasecure.com/

General Background:
Is America Preparing for Martial Law? http://tinyurl.com/a3ot9
Martial Law is Now a Real Threat: Declaring the US a Battlefield http://tinyurl.com/2zg67l
BAE joins RAINS http://tinyurl.com/2g55y9
London Bombing Drill conducted by Visor http://www.visorconsultants.com/index.html
Guiliani in London on 7/7/05 http://www.prismwebcastnews.com/pwn/?p=969
Giuliani Security & Safety LLC http://tinyurl.com/2f3gke
Dirty Bomb Threat (backstory) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20221065/
New 911-style plot (backstory) http://tinyurl.com/2j7cxu
Al Qaeda cell may be loose in US (backstory) http://tinyurl.com/ytmfdm
Plot would have killed thousands (backstory) http://tinyurl.com/ynl6b8
Doubt cast on 'liquid explosives' threat, Al Qaeda network in UK Identified http://tinyurl.com/

RUSSIAN TERRORISM EXERCISE - YOU TUBE VIDEO

 
Warfighters sharpen skills during Vigilant Shield
 
Vigilant Shield 07
Staff Sgt. Xavier Goco monitors radiation levels and tests for potential contamination using a high volume air sampling monitor and an ADM-300 at a simulated aircraft crash site on Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., Dec. 4 during Vigilant Shield 07. Vigilant Shield 07 is a joint nuclear weapon accident exercise designed to train Department of Defense and federal agencies on response efforts as a cohesive team. The exercise involved a variety of agencies representing the county, state and federal governments. Sergeant Goco is assigned to the 355th Aerospace Medicine Squadron. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Alesia Goosic)
 
Related Stories
• Airmen play role in homeland defense exercise - 12/8/2006
 
Related Links
• 1st Air Force/AFNORTH
• Department of Energy
• Department of Homeland Security
• FBI
• North American Aerospace Defense Command
• U.S. Northern Command
 

by Mike Strickler
Air Forces Northern Public Affairs

 12/6/2006 - TYNDALL AFB, Fla. (AFPN) -- Warfighters assigned to Air Forces Northern and Continental U.S. NORAD Region are honing the skills needed to respond to such threats during Vigilant Shield 07 which began Dec. 4 and runs through Dec. 14 here.

The annual homeland defense Vigilant Shield exercise, sponsored by the North American Aerospace Defense Command, U.S. Northern Command and U.S. Strategic Command, tests the synchronization of the three commands in responding to complex scenarios that challenge the homeland defense matrix in the U.S. and Canada.

Sor far in the exercise, those inolved have dealt with a major aircraft accident involving nuclear weapons, worked to intercept foreign aircraft penetrating U.S. airspace, dealt with a murder-suicide and monitored deteriorating world events that are teetering North America on the brink of nuclear war.

The two-week exercise challenges the joint team's ability to respond to asymmetric, around-the-clock attacks to better practice crucial warfighting skills, said Col. Mike Beale, Contingency Action Team director for Vigilent Shield.

"I've worked on many staffs in my 25 years of service and this is one of the most challenging and rewarding assignments I've been associated with," Colonel Beale said.

"The U.S. and North America are becoming increasingly hardened targets for any adversary, and our homeland defense is comprehensive, sophisticated and effective, but only because we train the way we fight, and that's what we're doing right now."

Vigilant Shield scenarios are challenging USNORTHCOM's command and control matrix and their ability to provide defense support to the nation during a potential limited ballistic missile attack and maritime domain threat. The Colorado Springs-based command is also exercising its role in supporting a lead agency in response to a simulated nuclear weapons accident.

At the national level Vigilant Shield engages all military services, including Canadian forces in the U.S. and at the Canadian, Alaskan and U.S. NORAD regions. Governmental agencies, such as the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Energy, are working in conjunction with the State of Arizona and the city of Tucson, Ariz., to improve interagency cooperation while cementing relationships between local, state and federal agencies in response to real-world incidents.

"Exercises like this help us protect Americans where they work and live," Colonel Beale said. "Working with our sister services and national responders fosters the interagency cooperation that is so vital to ensuring homeland security."
 

 

Allegany County Red Cross Chapter Conducts

Disaster Readiness Exercise

 

Wellsville, New York, May 8, 2007 – On Saturday, May 5, 2007 the Allegany County Chapter of the American Red Cross collaborated with officials from the Northeast Service Area to conduct a Chapter Disaster Readiness Exercise and Evaluation (CDREE).  The purpose was to assist the chapter in measuring their readiness to respond to disasters and to develop specific strategies to enhance their readiness. 

Disaster readiness means that each chapter has the right resources in the right place at the right time to respond to any disaster event which may impact its jurisdiction.  This includes establishing human resources, material resources, and critical relationships necessary to initiate, sustain, and manage a disaster response.  The CDREE allowed the Allegany County Chapter the opportunity to identify any shortfalls in these resources and relationships and to begin to design short and long-term plans to overcome these shortfalls. 

This was a table-top exercise, meaning that all the action happened in the local Red Cross office in Wellsville.  The chapter was required to “respond” to major flooding of the Genesee River from the Pennsylvania border to Scio.  Two shelters were “opened.”  The first shelter was at the Christian Temple Church in Wellsville, but as time passed and it became obvious more families would be affected, a second shelter was “opened” at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Wellsville. 

John Tucker, Allegany County Office of Emergency Services Director was a guest participant who said, “The Red Cross Chapter in Allegany County is a vital resource to emergency and disaster relief.  We rely on them heavily for assistance to our residents.”

Facilitators for the CDREE were Jim Strause, Chapter Solutions Manager from Rochester and Linda de Quintal, Disaster Specialist from New Jersey.   Mr. Strause said, “We already knew that the local Red Cross chapter has a group of highly dedicated volunteers.  We also learned that the local community is very supportive of the Red Cross.  In this exercise local partners such as the Allegany County Office of Emergency Services, the Andover School System, the New York State Police of the Amity Station, the Allegany County Sheriffs Department, the Village of Wellsville and their Police Department, and Ham Radio Operators from across Western New York were ready, willing and able to help the Red Cross meet the emergency needs of people in the local community.  All-in-all, the exercise was very successful. We learned a lot about the strengths of the local Red Cross, and I think the local Red Cross learned a lot about themselves.”

Also assisting in the exercise was Mike D’Antonio who represented the Amateur Ham Radio Communications Systems.   He had amateur radio operators from across Western New York on standby for most of the day.  When the