Northern Command turns spotlight on LV terrorism drills

Malia Spencer

Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2003 | 9:19 a.m.

With maps and graphic tables on the walls detailing timelines, contaminated areas and locations where symptoms of a simulated epidemic have been reported, the Pueblo Room at the County Government Center has taken a national spotlight as the briefing room for a mock bioterrorist attack on Las Vegas.

The national exercise Determined Promise '03, which government officials called a "historic exercise," is now in its second week, during which federal agencies are called in to aid state and local officials in responding to a mock plague outbreak.

It is the first large-scale exercise for the U.S. Northern Command, the military unit created last year to help state and local agencies during a domestic attack.

Gen. Ralph Eberhart, commander of Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, said Tuesday that Determined Promise has been designed to be more difficult than real-world scenarios.

The exercise has had scenarios occurring simultaneously rather than in a series where officials would have been able to solve one problem and move on to the next, Eberhart said.

"It's a challenge to work with many different players," he said. "We realize what we've done well and now focus on where we need improvement."

The exercise illustrates the many pieces of government that must come together to defend against a terrorist attack, Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Tuesday.

"(The exercise) was designed very well to determine seams in relationships and test the ability to respond to a very severe incident," Myers said.

Communication between agencies has been the focus of much of the exercise. Eberhart said he was expecting friction when Northern Command moved in but has "been pleasantly surprised by the working relationship with the state."

"At the risk of sounding too optimistic, it's gone exceedingly well," he said.

Determined Promise has brought the military's defense abilities in the war on terror into the public eye.

"The American people deserve to know what we're doing to protect them," Eberhart said.

He said the war on terrorism so far has been played out on foreign soil, but he added, "We have to be prepared to play the home game."

He described it as part of an ongoing journey to preparedness.

"As part of the journey we as a nation have to continue to get better," Eberhart said. "We never truly reach full operational capability."

Both generals said this war could last for decades and drew loose comparisons to the Cold War. They said similar to the Cold War, the war on terrorism will be long and take commitment and patience to overcome.

"In my view the stakes are much higher on terror," Myers said. "There are people who would love to do away with our way of life."