Exercise- Operation Mountain Guardian 9/23/2011 in #Denver Metro Area


There is a training exercise for emergency personnel scheduled to occur on Friday, September 23, 2011 in numerous locations across the Denver Metro Area. 


Operation Mountain Guardian Emergency Exercise

September 23, 2011

Contact: Lynn Kimbrough at lmk@denverda.org 720.913.9025

Operation Mountain Guardian is a terrorism-based full-scale exercise sponsored by the North Central All-Hazards Emergency Management Region, Denver Urban Area Security Initiative, and Front Range Metropolitan Medical Response System.  The exercise is a Homeland Security Grant funded event made possible due to grant funding from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through FEMA Region VIII and the State of Colorado Governor’s Office of Homeland Security.


The exercise will involve first responders from approximately a hundred different agencies, will be conducted at ten separate locations and will include loud noises, simulated weapons, smoke, emergency vehicles and other equipment that will be audible and visible throughout the day. The exercise has been designed as a learning event for regional first responders to test their capabilities in a scenario that will involve a terrorist-driven catastrophic situation. The exercise is scheduled to begin at 5:00am and end by 4:30pm.


Exercise play will occur at Denver International Airport and the four primary sites:

  • Park Meadows Mall
  • Smedley Elementary School
  • Denver Union Station
  • Community College of Aurora (Lowry Campus)
Catholic Charities and Sports Authority Field at Mile High will participate in an administrative fashion to test student/teacher processing activities. Sky Ridge Medical Center, Denver Health Medical Center, and University of Colorado Hospital will participate for the purpose of testing medical surge capabilities and communicating within Incident Command.


For more information on affected bus routes please see the Regional Transportation District's news release. 


A Public Information Officer will be available at each primary location to coordinate safe access for media representatives and provide information.  A Denver Joint Information Center PIO will also be available at 720-865-7695. 


MEDIA: Please contact the Joint Information Center or on site PIO for inquiries related  to this exercise (not individual agencies). Media inquiries not associated with this event should continue to be directed to the appropriate agency.



NOTE: This is a training exercise for emergency personnel. To ensure the public's safety, as well as the safety of emergency personnel and all those with a specific role in this exercise, we respectfully ask that the public (non- participants in this exercise) distance themselves from all of the locations in the County in which the exercise is being conducted.
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