-Joseph Trevathan
Objective, successes, and importance of the August 16 training exercise
“ The exercise was successful in testing the objectives we outlined. I was pleased to see the level of cooperation and interaction among all the agencies.”
-Joseph Trevathan
Chief, Customs and Border Protection
GEORGIA PORTS EXERCISE
Objective, successes, and importance of the August 16 training exercise
Story & Photography by: Brandy Mai
Georgia Ports Authority is the largest single-container terminal in North America, with immediate access to two major interstates and close proximity to Savannah, which is known for high volumes of tourists. Keeping the port safe is vital to Georgia and its citizens, which is why it’ s imperative GPA and partner agencies create emergency plans and exercise them in case of a real-world incident.
One such exercise was held on August 16 after nearly a year of planning and brought together various agencies and organizations who have an interest in port security, such as Customs and Border Protection, U. S. Coast Guard, Chatham Emergency Management Agency, Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency, and others. The on-site functional exercise tested incident command system structure
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September 2018 and homeland security exercise and evaluation program principles.
“ We have a robust maritime system in Georgia, with unlimited potential for growth,” said Captain Eric Hampton, Georgia Ports Authority Police and Emergency Manager.“ Our ports play a major role throughout the community, not just locally and across the state, but regionally as well. It’ s important that we take every opportunity to partner with other agencies in the maritime community to safeguard this system.”
According to Hampton and Joseph Trevathan, Chief, Customs and Border Protection, the exercise was designed to test various objectives. The first objective was to gauge everyone’ s ability to function in a unified command and increasing cooperation between the agencies who respond to port incidents. Further objectives were: ensuring incident response and cooperation
was consistent with National Incident Management System and Federal Emergency Management Agency guidelines; guaranteeing each agency knew their areas of responsibility and stayed within policy, guidelines and their emergency management plans; understanding how information would be shared surrounding any potential threats; and lastly, testing how inaccurate information would be managed to ensure leaked information would not lead to a secondary crisis.
“ The exercise was successful in testing the objectives we outlined,” said Trevathan, who also served as an exercise developer.“ I was pleased to see the level of cooperation and interaction among all the agencies.”
The collaborative partnerships brought together at the exercise exceeded jurisdictions and responsibilities, explained Scott Morse, port security specialist