U.S. policy and guidelines to combat terrorism call for robust, tailored and rapidly deployable interagency teams to conduct well-coordinated and highly integrated operations. Fed. agencies enhance their ability to respond to terrorist incidents by conducting exercises that train key personnel and test response plans. GAO briefed Congress on its analysis of fed. couterterrorist exercises that had been gathered in producing a Feb. 1999 classified report. This report summarizes the contents of those briefings. The objective was to determine the numbers, types, scenarios, and participants involved in Fed. counterterrorism exercises conducted from 1995 to 1998.

What can we do to protect ourselves from a terrorist attack, and how can communities respond most effectively when the unthinkable happens? The next large-scale terrorist attack on the United States could be carried out using any number of agents and delivery methods, including anthrax, smallpox, the water system, the agriculture industry; threats to bridges, tunnels, trains, airlines, and other transportation systems; suicide bombings in crowded cities, convention centers, and shopping malls; the possibilities are many, but not endless. Local preparation is critical. Until now, scant attention has been paid to the role of communities in preparing for and responding to terrorism. This invaluable set covers chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive scenarios. Throughout, the focus is on community preparedness and response. Volume I, The Terrorist Threat and Community Response, focuses on local, state, regional and federal coordination of efforts and interaction.