 Standardizes exercise design, development, conduct, and evaluation for all (National-level, Federal, State, local) exercises
 Establishes common language and concepts to be adopted and used by various agencies and organizations
 Meets the National Response Framework (NRF) and National
Incident Management System (NIMS) goals
 Synchronizes all exercises in the Nation
 Provides tools and resources for States and local jurisdictions to establish self-sustaining exercise programs
2

 HSEEP addresses the range of exercise evaluation issues through a blended approach involving four related program areas:
 Policy and Guidance — Providing the strategic direction for exercise and evaluation programs
Nationwide
 Training — Offering courses and tutorials on the many HSEEP plans, policies, and requirements

Technology
— Ensuring that Federal, State, and local jurisdictions have the tools necessary to plan and implement exercise programs

Direct Support
— Supporting jurisdictions across the Nation through funding, training, and other exercise support
Policy and
Guidance
HSEEP
Training
Technology
Direct
Support
3

 Volume I: Overview and Exercise
Program Management
 Volume II: Exercise Planning and
Conduct
 Volume III: Exercise Evaluation and Improvement Planning
 Volume IV: Sample Exercise
Documents and Formats
 Volume V: Prevention Exercises
(Draft)
4

 Exercises allow homeland security and emergency management personnel, from first responders to senior officials, to train and practice prevention, protection, response, and recovery capabilities in a realistic but risk-free environment. Exercises are also a valuable tool for assessing and improving performance, while demonstrating community resolve to prepare for major incidents.
 A consistent terminology and methodology for exercises is critical to avoiding confusion, and to ensuring that entities can exercise together seamlessly
 There are seven types of exercises defined within HSEEP, each of which is either discussions-based or operations-based.
5

 Discussions-based Exercises familiarize participants with current plans, policies, agreements and procedures, or may be used to develop new plans, policies, agreements, and procedures.
 Operations-based Exercises validate plans, policies, agreements and procedures, clarify roles and responsibilities, and identify resource gaps in an operational environment
6

 Seminar.
A seminar is an informal discussion, designed to orient participants to new or updated plans, policies, or procedures
 Workshop.
A workshop resembles a seminar, but is employed to build specific products, such as a draft plan or policy
 Tabletop Exercise (TTX).
A tabletop exercise involves key personnel discussing simulated scenarios in an informal setting. TTXs can be used to assess plans, policies, and procedures.
 Games.
A game is a simulation of operations that often involves two or more teams, usually in a competitive environment, using rules, data, and procedure designed to depict an actual or assumed real-life situation.
7

 Drill.
A drill is a coordinated, supervised activity usually employed to test a single, specific operation or function within a single entity
 Functional Exercise (FE).
A functional exercise examines and/or validates the coordination, command, and control between various multi-agency coordination centers (e.g., emergency operation center, joint field office, etc.). A functional exercise does not involve any
"boots on the ground" (i.e., first responders or emergency officials responding to an incident in real time).
 Full-Scale Exercises (FSE).
A full-scale exercise is a multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional, multi-discipline exercise involving functional (e.g., joint field office, emergency operation centers, etc.) and "boots on the ground" response (e.g., firefighters decontaminating mock victims).
8

The list below contains the important document types associated with most exercises (HSEEP V2)
 Situation Manual (SitMan)
 Exercise Plan (ExPlan)
 Controller and Evaluator (C/E)
Handbook
 Master Scenario Events List
(MSEL)
 Player Handbook
 Exercise Evaluation Guides
(EEGs)
 After Action
Report/Improvement Plan
(AAR/IP)
9

The HSEEP methodology defines a variety of planning and after action conferences (depending on type and scope of the exercise)
 Concepts and Objectives
Meeting
 Initial Planning Conference
(IPC)
 Mid-Year Planning Conference
(MPC)
 Master Scenario Events List
(MSEL) Conference
 Final Planning Conference
(FPC)
 After Action Conference (AAC)
10

HSEEP compliance is adherence to specific HSEEPmandated practices for exercise design, conduct, evaluation, and documentation
 HSEEP compliance includes four distinct performance requirements:
1.
Conduct annual Training and Exercise Plan Workshop
(T&EPW) and develop and maintain Multi-year Training and
Exercise Plan
2.
Plan and conduct exercises in accordance with guidelines in
HSEEP Volumes I-III
3.
Develop and submit a properly formatted After Action
Report/Improvement Plan (AAR/IP)
4.
Track and Implement corrective actions identified in AAR/IP
11

 All HSEEP compliant entities conduct a T&EPW each calendar year in which they develop a Multi-year Training and Exercise Plan, which includes:
 The entities' training and exercise priorities (based on an overarching strategy and previous improvement plans).
 The capabilities from the TCL that the entity will train for and exercise against
 A multi-year training and exercise schedule
 A new or updated Multi-year Training and Exercise Plan must be finalized and implemented within 60 days of the T&EPW
 All scheduled exercises must be entered into the National
Exercise Schedule (NEXS) System
 The Multi-Year Training and Exercise Plan must be updated on an annual basis (or as necessary) to reflect schedule changes
12

 The type of exercise selected by the entity should be consistent with the entity's Multi-year Training and
Exercise Plan
 Exercise objectives should be based on capabilities and their associated critical tasks, which are contained within the EEGs
 The scenarios used in exercises must be tailored toward validating the capabilities, and should be based on the entity's risk/vulnerability assessment
13

 AAR/IPs created for exercises must conform to HSEEP template
 Draft AAR/IP must be developed based on information from the Exercise Evaluation
Guides (EEGs)
 Corrective actions are developed from AAR/IP recommendations
14

 An improvement plan will include broad recommendations from the AAR/IP organized by target capability as defined in the TCL
 Corrective actions derived from an AAC are associated with the recommendations and must be linked to a capability element as defined in the
TCL
 Corrective actions included in the improvement plan must be measurable, must designate a projected start date/ completion date, and must be assigned to an organization and a POC within that organization
 Corrective actions must be continually monitored and reviewed as part of an organizational Corrective Action
Program
15

FEMA provides a variety of opportunities for HSEEPrelated training
 HSEEP Mobile Course
 Includes train-the-trainer materials to encourage dissemination of
HSEEP training
 Direct delivery course with approved HSEEP trainers
 Course divided into seven modules
 Application available on HSEEP website
 National Standardized Exercise Curriculum (NSEC)
 Independent Study (e.g., IS-120.A, IS-130)
 Master Exercise Practitioner Program (MEPP)
 Currently coordinating on developing standardized exercise course curriculum
16

Technological products are the key tools through which users will interface with and adopt HSEEP policies
 HSEEP technological tools include:
 HSEEP Website
 HSEEP Volume IV Library
 HSEEP Toolkit
 NEXS System
 Design and Development System (DDS)
 CAP System
 Exercise Evaluation Guide Library (EEGL)
 Lessons Learned Information Sharing (LLIS.gov)
17

 Serves as central repository for all
HSEEP-related content, including:
 HSEEP Volumes I-V
 IS-120A, the HSEEP Mobile
Course, and other training opportunities
 Links to other HSEEP technology products, including NEXS, DDS, and the CAP System
 HSEEP newsletters and information bulletins
 Links to other online resources, including the Responder Knowledge
Base, Terrorism Knowledge Base, and the Preparedness Directorate
Secured Portal
18

 NEXS System is the Nation’s comprehensive online scheduling tool:
 Facilitates scheduling
 Facilitates deconfliction
 Facilitates synchronization of exercises
 Compiles all National-level,
Federal, State, local, territory, and tribal exercises
 Serves as a management tool and reference document for exercise planning
19

The CAP System is a web-based application that allows homeland security officials to track, prioritize, and analyze corrective actions following exercises or real-world events
 Enables users to:
– Quickly enter data from a finalized AAR/IP
– Track the progress of corrective action implementation
– Analyze and report on trends in improvement plans
 System processes consistent with HSEEP, specifically Volume III, Evaluation and
Improvement Planning
20