CONTACT: Lt. Col. Paul Fanning, New York National Guard at (518) 786-4581 or (cell) 518-441-4106; Ellen Notarius, Erie County Executive’s Office at (716) 858-8500.

FOR RELEASE: Monday, Oct 19, 2009

WHO:

National Guard Officials with participation from Erie County Emergency Services Department and with the cooperation of the City of Tonawanda

WHAT:

TONAWANDA, NY (10/16/2009)(readMedia)-- New York National Guard Brig. Gen. Patrick Murphy, the Director of Joint Staff for the National Guard, and officials from Erie County and the City of Tonawanda will talk to the public on Monday night about Exercise Vigilant Guard , a joint military-civilian emergency preparedness exercise that will take place in the city, during the week of Nov. 1. Public Information Meeting about Exercise Vigilant Guard activities set to take place at the Spaulding Fiber Plant November 1-6

WHEN:

7 p.m. Monday, October 19th

WHERE:

City of Tonawanda High School, 150 Hinds Street, Tonawanda, NY 14150 (Parking lot off Fletch Street.)

Coverage Opportunities: Interviews with Brig. Gen. Patrick Murphy, National Guard Director of Joint Staff, about Exercise Vigilant Guard, as well as with local offiicals. Imagery opportunities will include a slide presentation on the exercise, question and answer period, and the public media in general. Background: At the request of the Mayor of the City of Tonawanda, the New York National Guard is conducting a Public Information Meeting to brief Tonawanda residents and other members of the public about training activities set to occur at the Spaulding Fiber Plant during the first week in November. Hundreds of military and civilian professionals will be moving to and from the site over a six-day period to conduct important emergency response operations in response to a simulated earthquake. Vigilant Guard: Vigilant Guard is a national exercise program sponsored by the National Guard Bureau and United States Northern Command to provide a training opportunity for National Guard forces for state emergency response and build relationships with local, state, regional and federal partners against a variety of different homeland security threats, including natural disasters and terrorist attack. More than 1,300 National Guard troops from New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and other states will participate along with local, state, county and city emergency response units and agencies. It will provide a realistic training opportunity for civilian and military officials to coordinate in order to protect lives and property. Table Top exercises were conducted in August and September in Buffalo as rehearsals for the full-scale exercise that will begin on November 1st. Training will be conducted at different locations in Erie and Niagara Counties and in New York City and will involve local civilian and military teams conducting search and rescue and medical evacuation operations and more. The Erie County Emergency Operations Center in Cheektowaga, and the New York State Emergency Operations Center and the National Guard's Joint Operation Center, both in Albany will run concurrent and coordinated command post exercises. Under the scenario, local emergency responders will be quickly overwhelmed by the damage and casualties and local government will seek military support. The purpose of the exercise is to help civilian and military officials in their planning and preparations to speed assistance when and where it is most needed when disaster strikes. Nationally, there are four Vigilant Guard exercises each year. Two exercises are aligned with national-level exercises such as Vigilant Shield and Ardent Sentry. The other two are regional "stand-alone" events, primarily with regional partners. Vigilant Guard will help both the National Guard and civilian leaders practice command and control functions and Defense Support of Civil Authorities with the various government partners through a realistic learning environment to benefit all participants.