Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Wilmington, NC - Mark Steelman, director of employment and compensation at University of North Carolina Wilmington, participated in the largest terrorism full scale exercise in state history Aug. 15-18. Over 80 organizations, including federal, state and local emergency management and first responders, rehearsed the National Incident Management System and National Response Plan.

Steelman is a captain in the Navy Reserve, overseeing the Military Sealift Command Expeditionary Port Unit 107, which is designed to stop at ports around the world to facilitate the onload/offload of military cargo on merchant ships.

The highlighted results of the exercise are scheduled for release at the Prevention and Response Integration Conference and Exhibition (PRICE) August 25 and 26 at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel and Convention Center in Durham.

Increased Homeland Security activity is not intended to cause alarm, but rather to provide public confidence that the state is training to prevent terrorism, and if necessary, ready to respond and recover from all hazards.

Planning for the exercise started in April 2004. A seminar was held on March 15, 2005, followed by a workshop on May 17. A functional communications exercise took place on July 19 with the culmination full scale exercises beginning on Aug. 15.

The exercise included a hostage situation with a threat to use weapons of mass destruction at Fort Bragg with some of the perpetrators escaping. Participants were faced with determining the cause of the attacks and making potential links between the incidents.

For information regarding the conference contact Gary Rector, Deputy Director, NCJA West and conference coordinator, 828/685.3600.

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