Don’t be alarmed by an increase in military aircraft buzzing around in local skies early next week. The North American Aerospace Defense Command is planning a series of exercises Monday and Tuesday across the National Capital Region, and officials say the tests are likely to start early in the morning and continue late into night.
The intercept and identification drills, code named Exercise Falcon Virgo, will be led by NORAD and feature Civil Air Patrol aircraft, Air Force F-16s and C-38s, and Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopters. Residents should expect flights to occur throughout the day, including late night and early morning hours.
The exercise is a test of NORAD’s intercept and identification operations, and a gauge of the region’s visualwarning system. Training flights are to be held in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration, the NCR Region Command Center, the Joint Air Defense Operations Center, Civil Air Patrol and NORAD’s Northeast Air Defense Sector.
Similar exercises have been held across the U.S. and Canada since the launching of Operation Noble Eagle, NORAD’s response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. NORAD fighters have responded to more than 2,300 possible air threats in the U.S., Canada and Alaska since the attacks on New York City and the Pentagon.
NORAD’s tracking and response skills over D.C. have been put to the test numerous times in recent years. In May 2005, the White House, Supreme Court and U.S. Capitol were evacuated – U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi lost her shoe in the frantic escape – when a single-engine Cessna violated airspace restrictions. A similar incident in June 2002 led the Secret Service to evacuate the White House.
