Major Terrorism Preparedness Test Begins

ByABC News
May 9, 2003, 5:28 PM

May 12 -- The largest full-scale drill government agencies have ever staged to test their reactions to a terrorist attack has begun.

Twenty-five federal agencies, plus dozens of state, local and Canadian government agencies, and the American Red Cross are all participating in the $16 million, five-day exercise known as TOPOFF2 because it's the second national exercise to test the preparation and coordination of the nation's top officials, on a regional and national level.

"When a disaster occurs, people do not call the White House. They call 911," said Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, whose city was hosting the scene of the opening round of the attack.

Department of Homeland Security Undersecretary Michael Brown said that the timing of the drill is opportune because of the barrage of tornadoes that have ravaged the Midwest, straining the country's emergency response agencies.

The drill also gives the newly formed Department of Homeland Security a chance to examine its organization, to see where the problems are and how to fix them, Brown said.

"I think it will certainly enable us to do things better in the future, we'll have a lot of lessons we will learn and take back to the Department of Homeland Security, and figure out what we can do just a little bit better next time, to better prepare the country," Brown said today at a news conference in Arlington, Va., before the drills began.

Participants have been provided a broad outline of how the fake terrorists will attack, but they won't know all the details.

As Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge told a news conference May 5: "We push the envelope in these types of scenarios. We push decision-making at all levels local, state and federal. We look to uncover communication and coordination and other problems. We also hope people have to make decisions on their feet and be prepared to adapt."

For the Liberation of Orangeland

Here's the outline of how the attack scenario was supposed to unfold.