This dropped in my office inbox this morning from building management (nice early notification). Offered up for all my local peeps:
Operation “Vigilant Front Range” Exercise
Buckley Air Force Base and the City of Aurora will have a training operation on Friday afternoon this week – a mock terrorist attack. Around 4:00 p.m. you may hear a loud explosion and see smoke at Buckley AFB, followed by emergency vehicle sirens for several hours. There will be helicopters and ambulances in abundance to and from the east area hospitals. There will probably be traffic jams too. You may also hear and see a few helicopters flying low and landing on the base. Please pass word to neighbors and friends in the area. You may see additional activity on Saturday, May 16.
Description: The exercise will take place on the grounds of Buckley Air Force Base and will be a large-scale, simulated terrorist attack. The exercise is designed to test coordination, communication and response among Aurora Police, Aurora Fire, Buckley Personnel, EMS, and local Hospitals to name a few. This exercise is a large scale operation, possibly involving as may as 300 – 500 participants.
The purpose of this communication is to help alleviate any alarm or concerns that residents may feel if they hear, or see this unusual activity May 15 and 16. “Vigilant Front Range” will bring together all agencies to review current plans, responses, recovery and investigative efforts in a unique way of building understanding, trust and relationships that are essential in the fast paced operational environment of a major disaster exercise. The information that is learned by these types of emergency exercises is invaluable and will prove to be useful in the future.
I mean, this is actually a pretty keen thing and all (and it beats not saying anything about it to the public in advance, ahemAirForceOnecough). I’m surprised either that there was no earlier announcement, or that building management didn’t pass the word on until now, since it would be easy to miss.
And, um … operation code names shouldn’t be quite so bombastically propagandaic, okay, guys?
Non-propagandistic code names? Whaddaya, some kinda Socialist? 😀