The Olson Group supported the Vermont Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security in the design and conduct of nine tabletop exercises and provided controllers to support the CAT2 statewide full-scale exercise.
In developing and delivering the tabletop exercises, OGL personnel met, established relationships, and worked effectively with local government officials, community stakeholders, and private sector representatives in every corner of Vermont. OGL achieved the design objectives of helping to prepare the host communities for the multi-day CAT 2 exercise. The exercise was well received by participants.
OGL provided approximately 60 controllers to help conduct the five-day exercise (to be held in June 2014), including personnel to support round-the-clock operations at some locations.
OGL also supported Vermont in the development, conduct and evaluation of a novel tabletop exercise addressing port security on Lake Champlain. The exercise provided participants from Vermont, New York, and Quebec an opportunity to collaboratively address a serious incident and evaluate their ability to communicate and integrate their command structures. OGL has been working with stakeholders from each entity to identify policies, plans and procedures and to construct an exercise which challenged each.