National Level Exercise 2-08 (NLE 2-08).

National Level Exercise 2-08 (NLE 2-08)

National Level Exercise 2-08 (NLE 2-08).

The Department of Homeland Security's National Exercise Program (NEP), the nation's overarching homeland security exercise program, will conduct a combined exercise in May 2008 that will test hurricane preparedness planning, assess federal interagency Continuity of Operations (COOP) procedures, exercise a response to terrorist attacks in Washington State and test Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA). These linked exercises are referred to as National Level Exercise 2-08 (NLE 2-08).

The exercise takes place May 1-8 with a wide range of participants from federal and state departments and agencies.

NLE 2-08 will consolidate into a single exercise the following:

* Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) National Continuity Programs' (NCP) Eagle Horizon 2008;
* U.S. Northern Command's (USNORTHCOM) Ardent Sentry 08 exercise;
* FEMA's Disaster Operation's Hurricane Preparedness Exercise (HPE);
* The Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program and Army Service Response Force tests for emergency plans, procedures, skills and equipment in response to an accidental chemical agent release.

The overall exercise scenario unfolds as a Category 4 hurricane threatens the National Capitol Region (NCR) while events in the Pacific Northwest include terrorist attacks involving weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the state of Washington and an accidental release of a chemical agent at chemical stockpile facility in Umatilla, Oregon. The scenario culminates with the hurricane's imminent landfall combined with a credible terror threat to the NCR which causes the federal government to invoke continuity plans and capabilities.

Planning for NLE 2-08 began in late spring 2007 and is designed to achieve the following objectives:

* Exercise and evaluate federal government continuity capabilities and management of emergencies from dispersed locations.
* Exercise our response to terrorist WMDs threat and attack capabilities with integration of Defense Support of Civil Authorities; and
* Exercise hurricane preparedness and response capabilities.

For more information on NLE 2-08 please contact FEMA Office of Public Affairs at 202-646-4600 or USNORTHCOM Public Affairs at 719-554-6889.

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