Operation Gotham Shield

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Operation Gotham Shield
Part of the National Exercise Program
TypeExercise
DateApril 23, 2017 (2017-04-23)
Executed byFederal Emergency Management Agency

Operation Gotham Shield was a 2017 exercise conducted by the United States

nuclear weapons attack against the New York City metropolitan area
.

Background

Operation Gotham Shield imagined a nuclear detonation at the New Jersey-side entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel (pictured).

Operation Gotham Shield occurred over the course of four days, from April 23 to 27, 2017, and was part of FEMA's National Exercise Program.[1]

The operation involved the hypothetical

fallout.[2][3][4]

Due to the location of the simulated attack, the operation scenario assumed the disablement or destruction of FEMA's Region II Regional Response Coordination Center[a] which required transfer of command functions to the Region V Regional Response Coordination Center.[b][1] In the final phases of the exercise, a hypothetical "massive influx" of refugees from the attack "overwhelmed" the resources of neighboring states.[1]

Participating agencies

In addition to FEMA, other agencies and organizations which participated in the exercise included the

FBI, the New Jersey State Police, various municipal departments of the City of New York, and others.[1][7][8][9][10][11][12]

Other activities

Gotham Shield occurred simultaneous with several partnered exercises testing the responsiveness of different agencies of the United States in the fulfillment of their own organizational priorities as they would apply to the core attack scenario, including Vibrant Response (led by United States Army North), Prominent Hunt 17-1 (led by the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office), and Fuerzas Amigas (a joint planning event of the Mexican Armed Forces and United States Armed Forces).[11]

Ardent Sentry 17 (led by the

New York National Guard who was given "dual status command", or authority to command both State of New York and United States military forces.[13]

Meanwhile,

missile attack."[14][16]

Conspiracy theories

Operation Gotham Shield was billed as a "false flag" by some conspiracy theorists, who predicted it was designed to cover up a planned, actual nuclear weapons attack against the New York metropolitan area, or as distraction from a planned U.S. nuclear weapons attack against North Korea.[17][18] The British tabloid Daily Express, meanwhile, propagated a different take on the conspiracy theory which hypothesized that "a major incident will happen to US President Donald Trump on Wednesday" (the date of the first day of Gotham Shield).[19]

See also

Notes

  1. Virgin Islands of the United States, and eight tribal nations.[5]
  2. ^ FEMA's Region V is normally responsible for Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.[6]

References

  1. ^
    U.S. Department of Agriculture. Archived
    (PDF) from the original on January 7, 2018. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  2. WNYW-TV. April 26, 2017. Archived
    from the original on January 7, 2018. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  3. ^ "Public Health Actions to Prepare for an Effective Radiological/Nuclear Response" (PDF). cdc.gov. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 9, 2017. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  4. FEMA. Archived
    (PDF) from the original on January 8, 2018. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  5. FEMA. Archived
    from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  6. FEMA. Archived
    from the original on November 19, 2017. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  7. ^ "New Jersey agencies participate in FEMA's 'Gotham Shield' nuclear attack drill". news12.com. News 12 New Jersey. Archived from the original on January 7, 2018. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  8. FEMA. Archived
    from the original on January 7, 2018. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  9. ^ "Upcoming Army MARS Communication Exercises Highlighted at Regional Conference". arrl.org. American Radio Relay League. Archived from the original on January 7, 2018. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  10. WKXW-FM. Archived
    from the original on August 29, 2017. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  11. ^
    U.S. Department of Transportation. Archived
    from the original on January 7, 2018. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  12. ^ Kanzler, Kaitlyn (April 24, 2017). "Federal, state agencies testing readiness for nuclear attack". northjersey.com. Archived from the original on June 11, 2017. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  13. ^ a b c "Emergency-Response Training in Ardent Sentry 17" (PDF). Guard Times Magazine. Spring 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 8, 2018. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  14. ^ a b "N.S. hosts nuclear emergency exercise". Chronicle Herald. April 24, 2017. Archived from the original on January 7, 2018. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  15. ^ "Military helicopters to fly low across Nova Scotia this week, including American Black Hawk". Metro. April 24, 2017. Archived from the original on January 8, 2018. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  16. ^ a b Brewster, Murray (November 30, 2017). "Canada, U.S. held joint exercises simulating nuclear attack on both sides of border". MSN. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on January 8, 2018. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  17. ^ LaCapria, Kim (April 20, 2017). "What is Operation Gotham Shield?". snopes.com. Snopes. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  18. ^ Faife, Corin (April 25, 2017). "Reddit's Conspiracy Theorists Think World War III Will Begin Today". Vice. Archived from the original on January 7, 2018. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  19. ^ "Shock radio broadcast sparks fears Donald Trump will be attacked on Wednesday". Daily Express. April 24, 2017. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
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