NLE 2024 focuses on the risks to national security that climate change poses. Specifically, the exercise will orient around the increased frequency and severity of storms in the Pacific Ocean impacting the Hawaiian Islands and an atmospheric river threat to California, which creates an environment for opportunistic ransomware attacks that impact critical infrastructure and the supply chain in Hawaii, California, and Guam. To do so, the exercise will examine plans and core capabilities within the Mitigation, Response, and Recovery mission areas.
NLE 2024 Objectives
Five national-level objectives will guide the development of all NLE 2024 engagements and serve as the structure for evaluation of NLE 2024.
- Climate Change Implications for National Security
- Information Sharing
- Response and Stabilization
- Prioritization and Adjudication of National Resources
- Intermediate and Long-Term Recovery
NLE 2024 Evaluation
FEMA’s National Exercise Division (NED) will coordinate national-level evaluation efforts, to include the development of a national-level After-Action Report/Improvement Plan (AAR/IP). The national-level evaluation will assess performance related to the NLE 2024 national-level objectives and associated focus areas.
Community Participation
NLE 2024 will incorporate a series of aligned exercise engagements prior to the operations-based exercise.
These engagements will provide an opportunity for whole community partners to strengthen threat and hazard planning regarding climate change.
The operations-based exercise will promote deliberate participation by whole community partners, including federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial government senior leaders with equities, roles, and/or responsibilities in catastrophic disaster response and recovery, as well as private sector, nongovernmental, and international partners.
Senior leadership engagement, to include Senior Officials Exercises, is expected throughout NLE 2024 with departments and agencies participating as they would in real-world events.
FEMA will maintain appropriate standards and processes for ensuring the health and safety of its personnel and partners, abiding by all applicable guidance and recommendations issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
NLE 2024 Resources
Key planning documents for participants will be made available on the NLE 2024 PrepToolkit site.
If you do not currently have access to the NLE 2024 PrepToolkit site or have any questions, please contact the NLE mailbox.