MT DES Exercise Program

Exercise in progress

 

Overview

The focus of an exercise should always be on locating and eliminating threats before an actual emergency occurs. Corrective actions are an important part of exercise design, evaluation, and after action reports. In planning exercises, the emphasis is on the actions or operations required in emergency response or recovery rather than on the types of disasters, because preparedness is common to all emergencies. Our Exercise Program is about preparedness, partnerships, and leadership:

  • Practicing our procedures to ensure the safety of our citizens
  • Partnering with stakeholders to understand how we can work together
  • The emergency management community working together to provide a clear message to the citizens on what actions need to be taken

 

There are a number of reasons to perform exercises:

  • Test and evaluate plans, policies, and procedures
  • Reveal planning weaknesses
  • Reveal gaps in resources
  • Improve inter-agency coordination and communications
  • Clarify roles and responsibilities
  • Train personnel in roles and responsibilities
  • Improve individual performance
  • Gain public recognition and support of officials
  • Satisfy government requirements

 

MT DES Exercise Program

The MT DES Exercise Program develops, coordinates, and leads a statewide all-hazard Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) to assist Montana in preventing, protecting, responding to, and recovering from man-made and natural disasters. The objectives of the exercise program are to:

  • Conduct the annual State Training and Exercise Planning Workshop and update the State’s Training and Exercise Plan
  • Continue implementation of HSEEP doctrine/methodology in Montana
  • Conduct MT DES exercises
  • Remain flexible and adaptable in order to conduct functional initiative exercises to meet the emerging needs of Montana
  • Provide exercise expertise and support to other MT DES bureaus/activities
  • Support regional exercise initiatives
  • Provide oversight of the HSEEP Toolkit for Montana which includes the National Exercise Schedule (NEXS), the Design and Development System (DDS), and the Corrective Action Plan System (CAPS)
  • Provide exercise support to local and tribal entities in Montana
  • Provide exercise specific training for local, State, and Federal agencies in Montana