Pentagon Tests Emergency Preparedness

Emergency crews surrounding the Pentagon last week were forced into action, after a simulated explosion drill aimed to test their responses to an emergency. But reports say it took first responders more than 10 minutes to arrive on the scene.

According to Paul Courson from CNN's Washington Bureau, the operation called "Gallant Fox III" was meant to check for weaknesses in how the military, federal, state and local responders handle a crisis. The exercise started with a bomb squad specialist tossing training grenades toward a transit bus in the Pentagon's south parking lot.

Courson says it took first responders more than 10 minutes to arrive, because they had been diverted by a deliberate mistake in the original report of trouble. The original report indicated a "shooting" at the Pentagon rather than an explosion at the bus stop.

"Units actually had to come here and realize there was an explosion," Fire Battalion Chief Bob Gray of Arlington County, Virginia, told Courson.

Courson says the event took place after a March 14 anthrax scare at the Pentagon's mail handling facilities raised questions about coordination. "We're certainly taking lessons learned from the incident in March," Brett Eaton, a spokesman for Washington Headquarters Services, a Defense Department facilities office, told Courson.

A report on the drill is expected, Courson says.

To read the full report, click here: http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/06/08/pentagon.drill/index.html