http://www.shakeout.org/

At 10 am on November 13, join millions of people throughout Southern California in the ShakeOut Drill, the largest earthquake preparedness activity in US history! Please register today

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oUgRjoM-88

Golden Guardian 2008 Exercise Series - Under the leadership of Governor Schwarzenegger and direction of his Office of Homeland Security, the nation’s largest state sponsored emergency exercise will take place November 13-18 Golden Guardian 2008 tests California’s capability to respond and recover during a major catastrophic earthquake, The Golden Guardian 2008 full scale exercise scenario focuses on a simulated, catastrophic 7.
8 magnitude earthquake along the southern portion of the San Andreas Fault

http://www.ohs.ca.gov/hseep/golden_guardian/

NORAD, USNORTHCOM participate in Exercise Vigilant Shield 09
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Northern Command News
November 5, 2008

http://www.northcom.mil/News/2008/110508.html

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. — North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command will participate in Exercise Vigilant Shield 09 Nov.
12 - 18

The focus of VS09 is on homeland defense and civil support.
The exercise will include scenarios to achieve exercise objectives within the maritime, aerospace, ballistic missile defense, cyber, consequence management, strategic communications, and counter terrorism domains

VS09 will run concurrent with other Department of Defense-sponsored and international exercises to more realistically test the synchronized response of federal, state, local and international mission partners in preparation for homeland defense, homeland security and civil support missions in the United States and abroad

Concurrent exercises include U.S.
Strategic Command GLOBAL LIGHTNING 09 and BULWARK DEFENDER 09; Canada Command DETERMINED DRAGON; California National Guard VIGILANT GUARD; and the State of California GOLDEN GUARDIAN

VS09 is a Command Post Exercise.
During a CPX, many of the forces involved in the exercise are notional and most of the real forces and equipment are not deployed from their home bases

NORAD is the bi-national command charged with aerospace warning and control, missile warning as well as maritime for the United States and Canada

Formed in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, USNORTHCOM is responsible for Homeland Defense and civil support missions


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US force in Iraq to cut brigade sooner than expected: officials
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AFP News
November 6, 2008

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/US_force ... brigade_soo_11062008.html

The US military has decided to reduce its total combat force in Iraq by a brigade to 14 brigades sooner than anticipated because of improved security conditions, the Pentagon said Thursday

The 2nd Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division, which is based in northwest Baghdad, will begin withdrawing this month two months ahead of schedule, Pentagon officials said

The division's 3rd Brigade also is coming out this month and will not be replaced, which will shrink the size of the US force to 14 combat brigades, they said

The military command in Iraq said the moves were possible because of reduced violence

There are still 152,000 US troops in Iraq, only about 10,000 fewer than at the peak of a 30,000 troop surge earlier this year that halted the country's slide into civil war

Pentagon officials attribute the high troop numbers to overlapping force rotations, but said they were expected to settle at a lower level by early next year

The moves come as US and Iraqi officials are trying to conclude an agreement that will set forth a timetable for a withdrawal of all combat troops by the end of 2011

The so-called status of forces agreement will also provide a legal basis for the US military presence beyond the end of this year, when a UN mandate runs out

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the US side had accepted some changes to a draft agreement proposed by the Iraqis, but would not say what they were