[MilCom] [MilRadioComms] Vigilant Shield at Key West NAS

[AllanStern at aol.com]

Here's the info I just posted to _MilRadioComms at yahoogroups.com_ 
(mailto:MilRadioComms at yahoogroups.com) :
 
 
Vigilant Shield: Joint military/homeland security defense  exercise underway
Washington - Navy ships, Army ground-based radar and  missile systems and 
Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard aircraft have descended on  Key West, FL, for 
the field training portion of US Northern Command's annual  homeland 
defense exercise that kicked off this week.

Northcom's Vigilant  Shield 12 exercise launched Nov 1 and continues 
through Nov 10, combining field  and command post exercises to train Northcom and 
North American Aerospace  Defense Command staffs in homeland defense and 
homeland security processes, Lt  Alain Blondin of the Canadian navy, a command 
spokesman, told American Forces  Press Service.

"The scenario for the exercise is based on potential  military threats to 
the United States and Canada that require extensive military  planning to 
provide a range of military options to our national leadership,"  said Army 
Gen. Charles H. Jacoby Jr, Northcom and NORAD commander, in a blog  announcing 
the exercise.

Northcom's operations center at Peterson AFB,  CO, working in coordination 
with a joint deployable integrated air and missile  defense system and 
elements of a logistics support facility dispatched to NAS  Key West, are testing 
their capabilities against simulated enemy attacks,  Blondin said.

Although most of the scenarios are classified, Blondin  said, they will 
involve "the full spectrum of threats," including simulated  terrorist attacks.

"It's an old Army truth that you have to train like  you fight, and the 
exercise scenario will undoubtedly put us through our paces,"  Jacoby said. 
This exercise will not only train us for that worst-case situation,  but it 
will also aid our planners in preparing for it."

"Homeland defense  is our most important mission, and it's a sacred trust 
we share with the  citizens of the United States and Canada," he said. "VS 12 
will make us better  and, most importantly, make our countries safer in the 
long run."

To  increase the realism of the scenarios and test the ability of federal, 
state and  international partners to provide a synchronized response to 
homeland threats,  Vigilant Shield planners have piggybacked on other training  
exercises.

For example, routine training flights under way across the  Washington, 
D.C., region are testing Northcom's and NORAD's ability to  coordinate with the 
Department of Homeland Security and Federal Aviation  Administration, among 
other federal agencies.

This year's Vigilant Shield  is being linked to two other concurrent 
exercises: Vigilant Guard Arizona and  Determined Dragon. Vigilant Guard Arizona, 
a joint regional exercise sponsored  by Northcom and the National Guard 
Bureau, is designed to improve military  processes, procedures and coordination 
with state and local responders,  officials said. Canada Command is 
conducting Determined Dragon to test the  readiness of Canadian forces at the 
national level.

Jacoby emphasized the  importance of a strong exercise program to maintain 
readiness, noting Winston  Churchill's famous quote, "Everywhere men pray 
for peace, but prepare for  war."

"I firmly believe that quote accurately reflects how the men and  women of 
these commands go at their business each and every day, and that's why  it's 
important as we look at a decreasing military budget to maintain and  
sustain critical training exercises like Vigilant Shield," he said. "Every time  
you exercise, you learn something new."

Read more: 
_http://www.asdnews.com/news/39346/Vigilant_Shield_Tests_Homeland_Defense_Processes.htm#ixzz1d2Z5CxCn_ 
(http://www.asdnews.com/news/39346/Vigilant_Shield_Tests_Homeland_Defense_Processes.htm#ixzz1d2Z5CxCn)  
 
AL STERN Satellite  Beach  FL
AllanStern at aol.com
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