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Operation Silver shows ISU still has work to do

Improving inter agency communication key lesson from Olympic security exercise
1616tents
Tent City As part of the security plan, Canadian Forces (CF) personnel will be positioned in different locations in the Vancouver area and the Sea to Sky corridor, in winterized temporary accommodation facilities similar to these ones. The Ministry of Forests and Range is assisting the CF with the set up and provision of these accommodation units and infrastructure support. Photo By Canadian Forces, Combat Camera

Better communication and keeping track of who is responsible for what when an incident happens were just two of the lessons learned during a massive 2010 Games readiness security exercise earlier this year.

In all, more than 1,000 participants from 100 agencies took part in Exercise Silver, which ran from Feb. 9th to 13th.

"I think the overall message is that we still have some work to do," said Cpl. Jen Allen, spokeswoman for the Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit (ISU), which is responsible for security during next year's Olympics.

"But overall we are confident of where we are in terms of the planning, we are testing appropriately, we are identifying gaps and we are confident that we are going to close those gaps prior to the Games."

Canadian Forces Lt. Col. Graham Thornton, deputy chief of staff support for Joint Task Force Games, echoed the sentiment.

"All in all pretty positive," he said from his base in Esquimalt.

"(There were) a few lessons learned and we are adjusting to take care of those."

Led by the RCMP, the ISU consists of members from the Vancouver Police Department, West Vancouver Police Department, the Canadian Forces and other agencies. It has carried out two security simulation exercises, Bronze and Silver and will complete a third, Gold, late this fall.

The 2009 security budget for the Games is $900 million, up from an original budget of $175 million.

Everything, from how the Richmond Command Centre functioned, to the evacuation of injured people, to the deployment of Special Forces in a terrorist incident, was tested in February.

"Exercise Silver allowed us to practice complex areas like aviation and marine security procedure," said Allen.

"We have to realize that there is a strict command structure in place during the Games so that in the event of a major incident during the Games we know how the decisions are going to be made and by whom."

Some of the simulations included:

• Evacuation of a spectator injured at the Whistler Sliding Centre.

• Evacuation of injured security personnel from the backcountry after their snowmobiles went off a cliff.

• A serious traffic accident on the Sea to Sky Highway involving a bus and cars. There were injures and casualties. Not only did the accident need to be analyzed, ISU carried out notification procedures for next of kin.

• A CBRN incident - that is an incident with weaponized or non-weaponized Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear materials that can cause great harm and pose significant threats in the hands of terrorists.

• Simulation of a heavy snowstorm to look at cause and effect.

• Emergency evacuation of one of the ships to be used for security accommodation in Vancouver due to fire.

•  A violent protest.

• Deployment of marine and Canadian Forces divers to the waters near Canada Place after a boat crossed a security border and dropped a suspicious package, believed to be explosives, into the water.

"We did identify a number of internal needs and those included the need to finalize our... standard operating procedures," said Allen.

"That is, how is the venue going to speak with the operational command centre; how are B.C. ambulance going to talk with those at the venue.

"...We recognize that we have some work to do in terms of those operational communications pathways. There were a number of gaps that were identified in our operational communication plan that we know we need to develop further."

Added Allen: "We just need to make sure that everybody is really clear as to what their roles and responsibilities are during the Games, and that was what Silver was all about."

Canadian Armed Forces were an integral part of the exercise. At Games time its air support will be based in Squamish, though it will have a presence in Pemberton for flexibility in response.

All Armed Forces personnel will live in self-sufficient trailer camps, which are being provided through a partnership with the Ministry of Forests and Range. The camps will be in several locations, including the backcountry near Whistler Olympic Park in the Callaghan Valley and the Whistler Athletes' Village.

The military is responsible for security cordon provision said Thornton.

"It is our job to take the outer protective ring to detect, identify, and intercept," he said.

"(At the athletes' village) it will be completely invisible to you. In fact I doubt on a clear day that you can find us.

"What we have tried to do is minimize the amount of military movement so we are trying to bed ourselves down as close as we can to the area that we are there to protect...

"So the first thing you will see is visible RCMP presence, (with) checks and accreditation (but) I doubt that you will see us there at all."

Protecting the Games will mean some specialized training for ground troops who will be living in the backcountry.

Thornton said representatives of the Four Host First Nations would be helping forces to familiarize themselves with the area.

"So far it has been really positive and they actively want to be involved," said Thornton.

The Canadian Forces are currently sourcing equipment needed for its backcountry presence including snowmobiles through government procurement services.

"...Operating in the backcountry and the mountains - that is a relatively specialized skill set so we are working on acquiring that capability and working on using local resources, in the local area, for the local economy," said Thornton.

While Thornton would not reveal a budget for the Canadian Armed Forces commitment he said: "When you are into an operation which cannot be allowed to fail the limiting factor cannot be the budget, because you are going to apply whatever measures and resources needed to ensure the safe successful execution of the Games."

For the ISU's part Exercise Silver did not reveal any failings that may lead to a change in the budget said Allen.

"The post Silver current budget of the ISU reflects the comprehensive security plans and there are no major shortfalls in terms of resources or equipment identified in Silver that changes this position," said Allen.

"The budget is reflective of security plans at present."