Exercises

Exercise Assistance

A major element to any exercise is having personnel to act as exercise staff (evaluators, controllers, players, etc.). We realize that one of our great strengths as the RHPC is the ability to leverage members knowledge and experience to improve all facets of emergency preparedness. If you need assistance in the development or running of your exercise, please contact one of the Regional Training and Exercise Coordinators for assistance.

Additional Resources

Standards and Exercises

Types of Exercises

Utility/ PurposeType of Player actionReal-time Play? Scope
Discussion- Based ExercisesFamiliarize players with current plans, policies, agreements, and procedures; develop new plans, policies, agreements, and proceduresNotional; Players actions are imaginary or hypotheticalNoVaries
SeminarProvide overview of new current plans, resources, strategies, concepts or ideasn/aNoMulti-or Single-agency
WorkshopsAchieve specific goal or build product (e.g., exercise objectives, SOPs, policies, plans)n/aNoMulti- agency/ Single-function
Tabletop Exercise (TTX) Validate plans and procedures by utilizing a hypothetical scenario to drive participant discussionsNotionalNoMulti- agency/ Multiple functions
GameExplore decision-making process and examine consequences of those decisionsNotionalNo (through some simulations provide real-or real time play)Multi- agency/ Multiple functions
Operations Based Exercises Validate plans, policies, agreements, and procedures; clarify roles and responsibilities; identify response gapsActual; player action mimics reaction, response, mobilization, and commitment of personal and resourcesYes Varies
DrillValidate a signal operation or function of an agencyActualYesSingle agency/ single function
Functional Exercise (FE)Evaluate capabilities, functions, plans, and staffs of Incident Command, Unified Command, Fusion centers, or other multi-agency coordination centersCommand staff actions are actual; movement of other personnel, equipment, or adversaries is simulatedYesMultiple functional areas/ Multiple functions
Full-Scale Exercise (FSE)Validate plans, policies, procedures, and cooperative agreements developed in previous exercises through their actual implementation and executionActualYesMultiple agency/ Multiple functions