On July 26 through July 28, the United States Army Task Force 46, a specialized homeland security response unit, will partner with first responder and healthcare partners in Philadelphia for Dense Urban Terrain (DUT) exercise.

The joint-training will test interagency planning, search and rescue, communications, and emergency systems during simulated chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear incident responses.

For public awareness purposes, Philadelphia Police, Philadelphia Fire, military personnel, and role players with mock injuries will be visible along with marked vehicles (including helicopter and boat) near drill scenario locations. This will take place July 27 and 28 between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.:

  • Philadelphia Fire Academy, Northeast Philadelphia (July 27/28)
  • Pleasant Hill Park, Northeast Philadelphia (July 27/28)
  • Philadelphia Navy Yard, South Philadelphia (July 27/28)
  • CSX Railyard, South Philadelphia (July 27)
  • SEPTA NRG Station, South Philadelphia (July 28)
  • Port of Philadelphia (July 28)
  • Albert Einstein, Penn Presbyterian, Pennsylvania, Temple, and Thomas Jefferson hospitals (July 27/28)

There may be temporary traffic and access closures to exercise locations. This includes parking lots at Linden and Delaware avenues at Pleasant Hill Park, Wells Fargo Center lots A, B, G, and H (Thursday, July 28 only) and the area of Kitty Hawk Ave and League Island Boulevard. Access to the Navy Yard shuttle from NRG stadium and access to SEPTA’s NRG station should not be impacted.

For the safety of participants, drone usage is prohibited by the FAA at exercise locations. If you see a drone being operated, please report the location and operator description to the nearest public safety official.

Official information regarding exercise activity will be published on 46th Military Police Command Facebook, Instagram, the Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management Twitter and Facebook pages.

“This joint exercise is a culmination of nearly 10 months of planning highlighted by over two dozen steering committee and workgroup meetings between more than 18 local, state, and federal partners, all with the goal of working together to support the shared homeland security mission,” said Dominick Mireles, Director, Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management. “Training is an essential, core function of emergency management. It is critical that agencies across all levels of public service and safety have a common understanding of plans, resources, capabilities, and contacts through these combined practice operations in the event an actual emergency should happen.”

The DUT series of training exercises began in Detroit in 2018 and have also been held in Los Angeles and New York City. It is considered one of the nation’s premier all-hazard and homeland defense exercises.