TOPOFF 4 exercise under way

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security began a preparedness exercise Monday in two states, Guam and the District of Columbia.

The five-day national preparedness exercise called Top Officials or TOPOFF is the fourth segment of the congressionally mandated TOPOFF series of exercises administered by the DHS. More than 15,000 participants in Arizona, Oregon, Washington, D.C., and Guam along with the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia are participating in the exercise.

FBI and other U.S. government agencies are participating in the full-scale exercise simulating the response to a radiological attack in an effort to better prepare the nation's response and recovery from such a terrorist incident, according to the FBI.

“While the FBI strives to prevent a terrorist attack from occurring in the first place, in the event of an attack we must be ready to respond," said Michael A. Mason, executive assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch, in a statement.

"This exercise is an essential element in our preparation to assert an integrated, coordinated response with our international, federal, state, and local law enforcement and intelligence partners and first responders."

TOPOFF 4 is the largest segment of the exercise series to date. Officials say more than 250 FBI specialty units are participating.

"An exercise of this magnitude gives the FBI the opportunity to use its communications skills in a real-time scenario with all of our partners in this exercise," said Supervisory Special Agent Richard Kolko, chief of the FBI’s National Press Office.

"In the event of an actual crisis, the ability to communicate with the government, the media, and the American public is critical, and the skills we learn and refine during this event will pay great dividends.”