NORAD and USNORTHCOM Conduct ARDENT SENTRY 2012

April 24, 2012 PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. - The North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command will conduct a major exercise, ARDENT SENTRY 2012, focused on Defense Support of Civil Authorities, May 2 – 9, 2012.

The exercise will be primarily a Command Post Exercise, but there will be field training events within the exercise. Those events will take place in North Dakota, Oregon, Texas, Alaska, Connecticut and Nova Scotia and involve United States and Canadian military units.

- North Dakota, the Air Force Global Strike Command will respond to a simulated Nuclear Weapons Incident (NUWAIX) on Minot Air Force Base.

- Oregon, the Oregon National Guard will work with state and local officials to respond to numerous weather-related and security events.

- Texas, US Army North will deploy a task force to work through the process of leading a military response to a major hurricane.

- Alaska, Joint Task Force-Alaska will conduct a coordinated response to a major aircraft crash in a remote area.

- Nova Scotia, Canadian and US Naval forces will work together to handle a security related event.

ARDENT SENTRY 12 will validate existing plans, policies, and procedures, including the Federal Inter-agency Response Plan, as well as state and regional plans.