1. Aviation Security Training
Module 2
Exercise Planning and Design
As you introduce the subject of exercises, you might want to ask how many people have participated in exercises in the past, what kind of exercises, and what roles they played.

2. Objectives Summarize the General Principles of Incident Management
Review the Components of an Incident Management Plan
Design an Incident Management Exercise
Participate in an Incident Management Exercise
Evaluate the Results of the Exercise
Review the workshop objectives.

3. Day 2 Agenda Value of Exercises Types of Exercises
Building Bloc Approach
Designing an Exercise
Conducting an Exercise
Evaluating an Exercise
Let’s take a few minutes to preview some of the things we will discuss today. We will talk about the value of using exercises to help prepare for an incident, we will review the different types of exercises that can be used and how to sequence them using a progressive approach to build upon past successes, and then we will discuss process of designing, conducting, and evaluating exercises.

4. Annex 14: Exercises Simulate Actual Incidents Periodic Testing
Full-scale
Partial
Annex 14: Aerodrome emergency exercise
The plan shall contain procedures for periodic testing of the adequacy of the plan and for reviewing the results in order to improve its effectiveness.
Note.— The plan includes all participating agencies and associated equipment.
The plan shall be tested by conducting:
a) a full-scale aerodrome emergency exercise at intervals not exceeding two years; and
b) partial emergency exercises in the intervening year to ensure that any deficiencies found during the full-scale aerodrome emergency exercise have been corrected; and reviewed thereafter, or after an actual emergency, so as to correct any deficiency found during such exercises or actual emergency.
ICAO standards require plans be practiced and exercised….
In the context of crisis management, an exercise can be defined as: a simulated situation in which personnel receive information aimed at generating realistic reactions”
In the context of crisis management, a test can be defined as:
“A procedure for critical evaluation; a means of determining the presence or quality of security measures and resources for safeguarding civil aviation, against acts of unlawful interference.

5. Value of Exercises Training Staff Testing Plans Testing Equipment
Modifying Plans
ICAO stresses the need for exercises because they are very important. They are invaluable for preparing all personnel and to test your contingency and emergency plans.
It is important the your exercises follow and reinforce the concepts and procedures described in your plans.
Exercises need to be conducted on a regular basis, so personnel have the chance to practice perishable skills under realistic conditions. You may have the greatest plan, but in an emergency, you will only execute what you have practiced.

6. Sioux City, Iowa, USA, 1989
United Airlines Flight 232 crashed during an emergency landing.
109 lives were lost in this disaster, 186 passengers survived.
Their survival was due mainly to three factors:
Response of the flight crew before the crash
Trained rescue units waiting on the ground
Centralized communications among all response agencies
On July 19, 1989, United Airlines Flight 232 crashed while trying to make an emergency landing at Sioux City Airport. 109 lives were lost, while 186 passengers survived. The professionalism, dedication, training and experience of the flight crew and the responders on the ground contributed to the large number of survivors. The community’s program of exercises were a factor in the response crews’ preparedness.
Several years before the crash, a Disaster Services Center was established in Sioux City. Representatives from 40 local agencies met regularly to review emergency procedures and plan realistic exercises. Two years before the crash, the community conducted a full-scale exercise based on a commercial plane crash. This simulation revealed several problems, including confusion in communications and inadequate numbers of ambulances and other equipment at the scene. An after-exercise plan was developed to address these problems. Those problems did not reoccur on the day of the crash.

7. Using a Progressive Approach
Planning and Training
Full-Scale Exercises
Functional Exercises
Drills
Games
Tabletops
Workshops
Seminars
Capability
Discussion Based
Operations Based
As valuable as they are, exercises should not be a one time, stand alone event. Exercises should be planned in a cycle that increases in complexity, with each successive exercise building on the scale and experience of the previous one. This is called the building block approach, and it is highly effective at building organizational capabilities. This diagram illustrates the building block approach, with exercises becoming more complex in size, cost and scope as you move from left to right. The diagram shows seven different types of exercise and we will take a look at each shortly.
ICAO standards regarding exercise types vary. Now Chapter 13 of Part 7 of the Airport Services Manual mentions three different types of exercises, the tabletop exercise, the partial exercise (or drill) and the full scale exercise. Section of Volume 5 discusses using “exercises of smaller scale” in addition to large full scale exercises to help evaluate contingency plans. These seven different exercises provide a range of options for contingency and emergency planners to use to evaluate their plans.
Each of the seven different types of exercises can be fit into one of two categories, discussion-based exercises and operations-based exercises. Discussion based exercises are the lighter colored exercises (on the left hand of the slide); operations based exercises are the darker colored exercises (on the right hand of the slide.) During discussion-based exercises, as the name suggests, center on participant discussion. Operations-based exercises, focus on action oriented activities, such as the deployment or resources and personnel.
The most basic exercise type in the building block approach is the seminar, which involves brief discussions of preparedness strategies and goals. At the other end of the spectrum, the most complex, the full-scale exercise can involve thousands of participants in responder dear, using equipment, trucks evacuation routes and actors, to simulate very realistic emergency procedures.

8. Discussion-Based Exercises
Review strategies, plans, agreements
Involve mid- to senior-level officials
Do not deploy resources
Discussion based exercises are typically used to focus on strategic, policy oriented issues. They are very good for reviewing or familiarizing participants with strategies, plans, agreements, training needs and overall preparedness requirements. Because the discussion content frequently deals with policy and broader concepts, discussion-based exercises usually involve mid-to senior level agency officials. Discussion based exercises do not involve the deployment of resources. Therefore, they are usually less expansive and easier to plan than operations-based exercises.

9. Types of Discussion-Based Exercises
Seminars
Workshops
Tabletop Exercises
Games
There are four different types of discussion based exercises. We will be designing a tabletop exercise
Seminars are low-stress events, lead by a facilitator, used to orient participants to strategies, plans, policies, procedures, protocols, resources, concepts and ideas. They can cover a wide range of topics. They work best with small groups, no more than about 20 participants. Seminars are ideal for assessing new concepts regarding how agencies will work together. They are relatively simple to plan and not very expensive to hold.
Workshops are similar to seminars, a key difference is that they are used to build a product, such as a plan or to develop an idea. They are good for collecting information from specialists, sharing information, gathering different prospectives, testing new ideas and building new teams. Products that are often produced from a workshop include: Emergency or Contingency Plans, Mutual Aid Agreements, and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). Findings from the workshop should be collected into a short report and distributed to all parties involved.
Tabletop Exercises involve senior staff, elected or appointed officials, or other key personnel in an informal group discussion centered on a hypothetical scenario. Tabletop Exercises are used to validate plans and assessments through discussions of key jurisdictional officials. A TTX also allows participants to thoroughly work through a problem without feeling as much pressure as they would in an operations-based exercise where response resources actually deploy. People site around a table and role play a hypothetical scenario. Observers evaluate the performance.
Games are simulations depicting actual operations using rules, data, and procedures designed to depict an actual or assumed real-life situation. Games are used to
explore the processes and consequences of decision-making and to explore the impacts of those decisions on plans, procedures and resources.

10. Operations-Based Exercises
Deploy resources and personnel
Require execution of plans, policies, agreements, and procedures
Identify gaps in plans and and team performances
Now let’s look at the operations based exercises.
Operations based exercises are more complex than discussion based exercises. Operations-Based exercises involve the actual mobilization of people equipment and resources, therefore they take more time to plan and are more expensive.

11. Types of Operations-Based Exercises
Partial Exercises or Drills
Functional Exercises
Full-Scale Exercises
Partial Exercises or Drills are a supervised activities that test a specific operation or function of a single agency. For example, a public health department may hold a drill to evaluate their ability to give vaccinations to many people in a short amount of time or a fire department may evaluate their initial actions upon arriving at a fire.
Functional Exercises are also known as Command Post Exercises. They involve the activation of Emergency Operations Centers or Command Posts. Functional exercises are designed to analyze/evaluate communication capabilities and command and control issues. They focus on testing established, rather than developing new plans, policies, procedures. They are typically more high stress exercises that require quick decision making on the part of leaders and staff.
Full Scale Exercises are high-stress multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional activities involving actual deployment of resources in a coordinated response, as if a real incident had occurred in real time. They are the most complex and resource intensive of the exercises. They are used to analyze current plans, procedures, policies, and expected actions

12. Designing and Developing an Exercise

13. Needs Assessment The needs assessment identifies:
Likely incidents and their priority
Resources most requiring exercise
Plans most requiring exercise
So, you know you what the different types of exercises are and that you want to have one? How do you know what it should be and look like??
The best way to determine the appropriate exercise design is to conduct a needs assessment of your organization’s (or jurisdiction’s) capabilities. A comprehensive exercise program continually evaluates its organization’s capabilities. Referring to and updating that assessment is an important step whenever a new exercise is considered for development. For example, if your agency has recently updated their Emergency Plan, that plan should then be validated. Therefore, your needs assessment should reflect the desire to design and conduct an exercise which would then test that plan.

14. Activity: Needs Assessment
Brainstorm:
Likely incidents and their priority
Resources most requiring exercise
Plans most requiring exercise
Take 15 minutes to brainstorm a number of possible incident and their priority levels and the resources and plans most requiring exercise.

15. Activity: Needs Assessment
Brainstorm:
Likely incidents and their priority
Resources most requiring exercise
Plans most requiring exercise
15 Minutes
7.5 15

16. Exercise Planning Team
Every exercise requires an Exercise Planning Team – the core group responsible for the design, development, conduct, and evaluation of an exercise.
Once you have identified a specific need for an exercise you can begin to assemble the Exercise Planning Team
Every exercise requires an Exercise Planning Team – the core group responsible for the design, development, conduct, and evaluation of an exercise.
A team consists of a Lead Planner and planning team members. The team members come form the key agencies that will be participating in the exercise.
The Exercise Planning Team makes some key decisions on what the exercise will look like and how it will proceed.
The Exercise Planning Team:
• Determines the exercise purpose, scope and objectives.
• Creates the scenario.
• Develops exercise documentation.
• Conducts pre-exercise briefing and training sessions.
Because of their high level of involvement, planning team members do not usually participate as players.
The Exercise Planning Team should be assembled from key participating agencies, organizations and jurisdictions. The scope and type of exercise or scenario should also help determine the team's membership.

17. Exercise Design Structure
Scope
Purpose
Objectives
Scenario Narrative
The Exercise Planning team will design the exercise.
Exercise design is typically divided into 4 sequential steps:
Scope
Purpose
Objectives
Scenario narrative
We will review and practice each step.

18. Exercise Design Structure
Scope
Purpose
Objectives
Scenario Narrative
The Exercise Planning team will design the exercise.
Exercise design is typically divided into 4 sequential steps:
Scope
Purpose
Objectives
Scenario narrative
We will review and practice each step.

19. Exercise Scope Scope determines the size of the exercise in terms of:
Incident Type (what)
Responder functions (who, how many)
Location (where)
Type of Exercise (tabletop)
After the needs assessment, the next step is to identify the scope of the exercise. We can’t conduct a huge exercise that deals with all the responders against every possible threat, so we limit the size of the exercise in terms of its scope. Exercise planners must be careful to make their scope manageable (neither too large nor too complex), selecting only those participants or actions best suited for the exercise program, type, budget, and objectives. The exercise’s scope helps define the exercise in terms of
Incident Type, what type of hazard or threat will occur, will it be a hazardous material spill, hijacking, weather incident, ect. An exercise is usually limited to one major event, although others, especially secondary events, might also develop.
Responder functions, what specific functions need to be exercised, Fire fighters, emergency medical, local government, communications, command and control, alert and warnings, etc
Number/Type of participants or what responders really need to participate in this exercise, police, fire, EMS, hospitals?? Etc. Define by organization .
Location (local, national, regional) or how large an area will the exercise occur in? Identify specific locations if possible, where the simulated event will occur. For tabletop and functional exercises, select a place where the hazard could realistically occur. For a full-scale exercise, traffic problems or safety issues may make it necessary to compromise on an area similar to the ideal location.
Type of Exercise, What exercises are most needed? What experience have personnel had with the various types of exercises?
What stress level do we want? How much can we afford? What types of exercises are mandated by regulatory requirements?

20. Activity: Exercise Scope
Incident Type (what)
Responder functions (who, how many)
Location (where)
Tabletop of Exercise
In your small groups, develop the scope of a possible exercise for your community. Select parameters for these five criteria:
This should take about 15 minutes, then groups should discuss.

21. Activity: Exercise Scope
Incident Type (what)
Responder functions (who, how many)
Location (where)
Tabletop of Exercise
15 Minutes
In your small groups, develop the scope of a possible exercise for your community. Select parameters for these five criteria:
This should take about 15 minutes, then groups should discuss.
7.5 15

22. Exercise: Design Structure
Scope
Purpose
Objectives
Scenario

23. Exercise Purpose
Sample Purpose Statement The purpose of the Tabletop Exercise of a fire in Terminal B is for the airport police, fire, security, and facilities personnel to evaluate the new terminal evacuation plan.
After the scope has been identified, the next step is to develop an exercise purpose statement.
The purpose statement adds the “why” to the elements of the scope.
The purpose statement is a broad statement of the exercise goal, based on the exercise scope. It focuses and controls the whole exercise. The purpose statement, governs the selection of the exercise objectives, clarifies for planners, participants and others why the exercise is being conducted and is useful in communicating plans to the media and community leaders. A purpose statement encompasses the scope criteria. Let’s take a look at this example.
The purpose of the proposed Airport Tabletop Exercise of a simulated fire in Terminal B is for the airport police, fire, security, and facilities personnel to evaluate the new terminal evacuation plan. Who can identify the five scope criteria in that statement??

24. Exercise Purpose
Sample Purpose Statement The purpose of the Tabletop Exercise of a fire in Terminal B is for the airport police, fire, security, and facilities personnel to evaluate the new terminal evacuation plan.
After the scope has been identified, the next step is to develop an exercise purpose statement, or why you are conducting the exercise. The purpose statement is a broad statement of the exercise goal, based on the exercise scope. It focuses and controls the whole exercise. The purpose statement, governs the selection of the exercise objectives, clarifies for planners, participants and others why the exercise is being conducted and is useful in communicating plans to the media and community leaders. A purpose statement encompasses the scope criteria. Let’s take a look at this example.
The purpose of the proposed Airport Tabletop Exercise of a simulated fire in Terminal B is for the airport police, fire, security, and facilities personnel to evaluate the new terminal evacuation plan. Who can identify the five scope criteria in that statement??

25. Activity: Purpose Statement
Write an exercise purpose statement incorporating the scope criteria you identified in the earlier activity.
Divide class into 2 groups for this day’s activities.
With your group, write an exercise purpose statement incorporating the five scope criteria you identified in your earlier activity.
The five scope criteria are:
Geographic size
Number of participants
Responder functions
Hazard Type
Type of Exercise
Take about 15 minutes for this activity

26. Activity: Purpose Statement
Write an exercise purpose statement incorporating the scope criteria you identified in the earlier activity.
15 Minutes
7.5 15
Divide class into 2 groups for this day’s activities.
With your group, write an exercise purpose statement incorporating the five scope criteria you identified in your earlier activity.
The five scope criteria are:
Geographic size
Number of participants
Responder functions
Hazard Type
Type of Exercise
Take about 15 minutes for this activity

27. Exercise Design Structure
Scope
Purpose
Objectives
Scenario
The next step is to craft specific objectives for the exercise. Objectives describe the measurable outcomes of the exercise.

28. Exercise Objectives Objectives: Define specific exercise outcomes
Provide a framework for scenario development
Provide exercise evaluation criteria
An objective is a description of the performance you expect from participants. It conveys specifically how the exercise should achieve its purpose.
Generally, the number of exercise objectives should be limited to enable timely execution, facilitate design of a reasonable scenario, and promote successful completion of the exercise purpose.
Properly written objectives are the key to a successful exercise because they support the exercises design, conduct and evaluation. Without clear, concise easily understood objectives it is very difficult to have a successful exercise.  

29. Developing Exercise Objectives
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Time-oriented
A helpful way to remember what to include in an exercise objective are the letters S, M, A, R, and T.
The letters stand for the following ideas;
Specific – Do not try to cover too broad an area.
Measurable – Is there a defined standard for achieving the objective. Ensure that evaluators can determine whether the objective was achieved.
Achievable – The objective should not be too difficult to achieve and be consistent with an individual’s or team’s training
Realistic – The objective should present a realistic expectation of the situation.
Time-Oriented-The objective should limited in duration.

30. Sample Exercise Objectives
Within 15 minutes after the evacuation notice is given, members of the Emergency Operations Center will complete all notification procedures to the airport management team.
Within 30 minutes determine, through tabletop discussion, if the Standard Operation Procedures for initiating the emergency warning system conflicts with other guidelines or policies.
Review each of the objectives with the participants. Ask if they are good SMART objectives and if so, for which type of exercise might they be, discussion based or operations based. The first one is SMART for a operations based, the second is SMART for a discussion based and the third objective is not SMART. Ask the participants why not? How would you make it SMART?

31. Activity: Exercise Objectives
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Time-oriented
Working with your small groups again, take about 15 minutes and develop at least two objectives for purpose statement you have already developed.

32. Activity: Exercise Objectives
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Time-oriented
15 Minutes
Working with your small groups again, take about 15 minutes and develop at least three objectives.
7.5 15

33. Exercise Design Structure
Scope
Purpose
Objectives
Scenario
Writing the narrative is the final step in designing an exercise.

34. Scenario Narrative time line Progressive
Based on the objectives, purpose, and scope
Approximates real-world responses to emergencies
Scenario
After crafting the objectives, the next step is to develop the scenario. The scenario is an important part of exercise, it typically receives much of the attention of the participants. Scenarios need to be as realistic as possible and should be designed to engage exercise participants in a way that approximates real-world responses to emergencies.
At a minimum, the narrative should address these questions:
• Where does the initiating event take place?
• How dangerous and persistent is the emergency?
• What is the impact of the incident?
• What time of day does the event take place?
• What is the sequence of events?
• What other factors would influence emergency procedures?
Refer to the suggested questions on page 9 and the example on page 10.

35. Activity: Scenario 30 Minutes 15 3015 30
Open your Participant Guide to Page 9. There you will see a set of questions to help you develop your scenario narrative. Try to provide a sentence or two to each question, then put those sentences together into the scenario narrative. Take 30 minutes now and work on the scenario.

36. Day 2 Review Value of Exercises Types of Exercises
Progressive Approach
Designing an Exercise
Let’s take a few minutes to review some of the things we discussed today. We talked about the value of using exercises to help prepare an organization’s preparedness for an incident, we reviewed the different types of exercises that can be used and how to sequence them using a building bloc approach to build upon past successes, and then we discussed process of designing, conducting and evaluating exercises.
Is there anything we can clarify at this time concerning these subjects or anything else we discussed today?
(Wait for any questions)
Thank you for your time and attention today. Have a good evening and we will see you tomorrow.