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

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