Vigilant Guard 17
 Soldiers and airmen of the Georgia National Guard's Joint Task Force 781 Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives (CBRNE) set up a headquarters tent at Fort Stewart, Ga., as part of Vigilant Guard 2017, a statewide emergency response exercise, March 27, 2017. (Army photo) | |
| Date | 23 March, 2017 - 31 March, 2017 |
|---|---|
| Location | Atlanta, Georgia (State), USA |
| Perpetrators | U.S. Northern Command, National Guard Bureau, GEMHSA |
Vigilant Guard 17 was a military exercise [1] held from March 23-31, 2017 in Georgia.
It coincided with the collapse in a massive fire of a bridge section of Interstate 85 (I-85) in Atlanta, Georgia, on the evening of Thursday, March 30, 2017,[2] later blamed on three homeless people.
Official narrative
The 2017 exercise was the largest Vigilant Guard event conducted in its history, and was the first time that the state of Georgia ever hosted a Vigilant Guard event.[1]
Under the scenarios practiced during the Vigilant Guard 17 training exercise, 19 counties were in a simulated state of emergency. More than 50 federal and local agencies joined the Georgia Department of Defense along with units from six other states for a series of real-world training scenarios. Exercise missions included collapsed building search and decontamination, search-and-rescue training, maritime response, aerial firefighting, mass-casualty medical-evacuation training, cyberattack defense and more. [1]
The purpose of the large-scale and comprehensive exercise was "to simulate a real-world natural disaster in order to improve cooperation among local, state, and federal stakeholders in preparing for emergencies and any sort of catastrophic event," Georgia Governor Nathan Deal said.[1]
Interstate 85 bridge fire and collapse
