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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 9:47 a.m., Thursday, September 25, 2008

Anti-terrorism drill under way at Marine base

Advertiser Staff

MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, Oahu — Marine Corps Base Hawaii's largest annual anti-terrorism and force protection exercise, "Lethal Breeze," wraps today with large-scale responses to simulated major emergencies.

This is the fifth consecutive year MCB Hawaii has conducted the base-wide, three-day exercise, which involves coordination with the Honolulu Police Department's Specialized Services Division (SWAT) team, federal Fire Department and other local and federal agencies, according to a Marine Corps news release.

One of the two major simulated incidents involves an armed aggressor who takes hostages while barricading himself in a building on base. Hostage negotiation teams, HPD SSD, base military police department's Special Reaction Team and other first responders will be evaluated on their ability to try to peacefully end the standoff, the news release said.

The other simulated major incident is a mass casualty scenario involving explosives and chemical weapons attacks.

Throughout Lethal Breeze, organizations have reacted to different scenarios including homeland security operations, responding to an explosive package on base and the handling of suspicious persons.

There should be no impact to local communities during this exercise and no live explosives will actually be used. However, during the day gate traffic approaching the base may be delayed due to increased security measures. There will also be road closures in effect on base for portions of Harris Avenue, Mokapu Road, and Third Street.