What is "Vigilant Guard"?
It’s a three-day, Tennessee National Guard-hosted exercise that will test the National Guard as the first military responder in support of the governor and the state emergency management agency. "Vigilant Guard"reinforces that all incidents are local. The exercise will demonstrate the capabilities of the Tennessee National Guard Joint Force Headquarters, the Joint Task Force-Tennessee, and the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) - the process where Governors reach out to other Governors for more assistance. Specific National Guard homeland defense capabilities will include the National Guard Reaction Forces (NGRF), Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Teams (CST) and Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Enhanced Response Package (CERFP) teams.
What is the exercise scenario?
On April 19 at approximately 10 a.m. a 7.7-scale earthquake will register at New Madrid Seismic Zone in Shelby County. The earthquake will be centered in the vicinity of Marked Tree, Ark. The incident will prompt the deployment of National Guard personnel from Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, and the National Guard Bureau.
Who will participate?
More than 2,000 National Guard personnel from Tennessee and surrounding states will respond in support of relief operations in Shelby County - all under the command and control of the Governor of Tennessee through EMAC. These National Guard forces will operate and train alongside other participants including Shelby County and state agencies, the Department of Homeland Security, and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region IV.