TOPOFF 5: Exercising National Preparedness

TOPOFF: Exercising National Preparedness

Top Officials (TOPOFF) is the nation’s premier terrorism preparedness exercise, involving top officials at every level of government, as well as representatives from the international community and private sector. Thousands of federal, state, territorial, and local officials engage in various activities as part of a robust, full-scale simulated response to a multi-faceted threat.

The exercise addresses policy and strategic issues that mobilize prevention and response systems, require participants to make difficult decisions, carry out essential functions, and challenge their ability to maintain a common operating picture during an incident of national significance.

TOPOFF was mandated by Congress in an effort to engage Top Officials in the decision making processes they would face in a real world disaster – from public health concerns to communications issues among agencies and the media.

Each TOPOFF builds on lessons learned from previous exercises and real world disasters, thus ensuring that participants face successively more sophisticated and challenging exercises.
Challenging the Entire Homeland Security System

Exercises such as TOPOFF are an important component of national preparedness, helping to build an integrated federal, state, territorial, local, and private sector capability to prevent terrorist attacks, and rapidly and effectively respond to, and recover from, any terrorist attack or major disaster that does occur. The full-scale exercise offers agencies and jurisdictions a way to test their plans and skills in a real-time, realistic environment and to gain the in-depth knowledge that only experience can provide. Participants will also exercise prevention and intelligence gathering functions, which are critical to preventing terrorist attacks. Lessons learned from the exercise will provide valuable insights to guide future planning for securing the nation against terrorist attacks, disasters, and other emergencies.
TOPOFF 4: Increasing Coordination through Collaboration

* Conducted in October 2007, TOPOFF 4 took place in Portland, Ore.; Phoenix, Ariz.; and for the first time, the U.S. territory of Guam as well as in Washington, D.C. for federal partners.
* The exercise builit on past lessons learned while adding new goals, including: an increased level of coordination with U.S. Department of Defense exercises to combat global terrorism, closer cooperation with the private sector, an expanded emphasis on prevention, a deeper focus on mass decontamination and long-term recovery and remediation issues, and strengthened coordination and communications with international allies.
* More than 15,000 participants representing federal, state, territorial, and local entities, as well as the governments of Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, participated in the exercise.
* All venues responded to a radiological RDD attack.


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Now the reason I post this is:

I googled Topoff 5 and came back with a list of ALL HOMELAND SECURITY FUNCTIONS FOR THE NEXT 5 YEARS..

If you will refer to page 7 of this page it shows that no exercises will occur until OCT(Planned exercise, no description or location)
and TOPOFF 5 scheduled for JULY 2009.(No location given)

[link to 72.14.205.104]

Just thought that somebody would enjoy it.