Office of National Capital Region Coordination Completes Homeland Security Exercise

In a homeland security exercise completed earlier this month in the national capitol region, the Office of National Capital Region Coordination successfully tested whether continuity of operations would be maintained if a category four hurricane were to approach Washington, D.C. The exercise also gave the office a chance to drill relocating personnel from the nation's capitol.

Consultants worked with Federal Emergency Management Agency staff to deliver tools that allowed mapping systems to show the status of relocation check-ins. In compliance with Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 goals, validation systems were utilized during NLE 2-08 to update information on the map in real time and provide situational awareness to multiple DHS entities involved in the exercise.

Some relocation teams were equipped with customized smart phones using custom software to deliver real-time location information back to the Department of Homeland Security. As personnel arrived at the U.S. Park Policy Rally Point and traveled via helicopter to their appropriate location, DHS maintained a real-time view of site status.

Utilizing broad knowledge of the DHS, the consultants were able to apply existing DHS tools, custom applications, and mission knowledge to create new capabilities supporting the exercise.