U.S. Department of Homeland Security Announces Completion of TOPOFF 4 Command Post Exercise to Address Counterterrorism Preparedness and Response Capabilites

Release Date: 06/22/06 00:00:00

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010
June 22, 2006

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today announced it has completed the TOPOFF 4 Command Post Exercise (T4 CPX), a congressionally mandated counterterrorism exercise for top officials. The exercise, which took place from June 19-22, 2006, is a multifaceted effort to prevent and respond to a simulated terrorist attack using weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).

The T4 CPX was conducted in conjunction with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Forward Challenge 2006 exercise, which involved a test of Federal continuity of operations plans (COOP), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Marble Challenge 06-02 exercise, which involved a law enforcement WMD response. The T4 CPX focused on senior officials’ abilities to respond to a complex and demanding exercise scenario, in accordance with the National Response Plan (NRP) and National Incident Management System (NIMS).

“The T4 CPX provided an excellent opportunity to strengthen the nation’s capacity for effective, coordinated action to address terrorist threats and major disasters,” said DHS Under Secretary for Preparedness George Foresman. “Although the scenario is simulated, the risk is real. Every TOPOFF exercise builds on real-world and exercise experiences and lessons learned to further enhance our national preparedness.”

More than 4,000 Federal, State, local, and tribal senior officials and managers from 85 organizations participated in the T4 CPX. Command post exercises like the T4 CPX are real-time, functional assessments of communications, planning, and decision-making capabilities in a time of crisis. Although emergency response centers were activated as part of the T4 CPX, limited numbers of emergency response personnel were deployed into the field.

TOPOFF challenges participants to prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from a simulated terrorist attack involving chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or other explosive weapons. Each TOPOFF exercise involves a two-year cycle of planning, seminars, exercises, and training activities leading to a CPX in the first year and a full-scale exercise in the second.

“TOPOFF allows us to identify gaps in our plans and capabilities that can be proactively addressed, ensuring that the country is better prepared for a real-world event,” continued Under Secretary Foresman. “The exercise is a real-time test of our planning, communications, and interagency decision-making capabilities during a crisis.”

As the first exercise in the T4 exercise cycle, the T4 CPX focused on the effectiveness of plans, procedures, and communication capabilities in a number of areas, including:

Assessing the effects of implementing COOP in the context of a WMD event;
Validating various department and agencies’ COOPs, procedures, and policies;
Coordinating a media and public communications strategy and messaging in the context of a WMD event;
Determining the authorities, responsibilities, and capabilities of Federal assets necessary to respond to a terrorist WMD incident;
Testing the ability of command/operations/intelligence centers to share intelligence and information to maintain a common operational picture;
Assessing the public health, medical support, mass decontamination, and mass care requirements during a terrorist WMD event; and
Testing law enforcement’s response to a WMD event.

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This page was last modified on 06/22/06 00:00:00