(Updated at 2:30 p.m.) A couple of training exercises will be taking place in Arlington today and tomorrow.
An Arlington County Police Department training exercise has been ongoing since 6:00 a.m. in the 3900 block of N. 26th Street. Explosive Ordnance Disposal units will join the SWAT team for the joint training exercise. It will continue until about 3:00 p.m. today and isn’t expected to cause much disruption to residents.
The exercise inadvertently drew a large police response to the area when a 911 caller reported seeing a man dressed in camouflage with an assault rifle strapped to his back near Glebe Elementary School. Police searched the area and eventually discovered the training exercise, according to scanner traffic.
This is the third such FBI training exercise in Waverly Hills in the past year and a half.
Military training exercises will be taking place at the National Guard center throughout the day. As part of the drill, residents — especially those in the Barcroft and Alcova Heights neighborhoods — may notice a helicopter landing and taking off in the field at Arlington Hall West Park around 11:00 a.m. and again at 3:25 p.m. Park visitors are advised to avoid the area around these times.
Police officers and firefighters will be in the area to provide assistance as necessary. There are no traffic disruptions or noises expected during the training exercise, other than the helicopter, we’re told.
The Arlington County Fire Department and numerous other local fire departments are participating in a month-and-a-half-long study in Crystal City that could help save lives.
The “Fire Fighter Safety and Deployment Study,” organized and funded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), is putting real-world firefighters in realistic firefighting simulations in a vacant Crystal City high rise. The goal of the study is to determine how firefighters can be most safely and effectively deployed in the event of a fire in a high rise building.
The exercise will be held from 4:00 to 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, and will “assess the response of Arlington County’s public safety agencies in a simulated active shooter emergency incident.”
“The public should be advised that there could potentially be some temporary traffic delays as emergency equipment is positioned,” the police department said in a press release. “There will be a large number of public safety vehicles in the area of The Fashion Centre at Pentagon City and several parking lots along Army Navy Drive in close proximity to the mall. The exercise participants will not be activating their emergency lights or sirens at any time during the training.”
Law enforcement officers will be performing the training exercise in Oakland Park, which is located at the corner of Wilson Blvd and Oakland St. It’s slated to run from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Residents who park in the area are advised to pay extra attention to signs on parking meters during that time. Many meters around the park will be designated for use only by those participating in the training.
Several readers contacted ARLnow.com this morning about activity in the Waverly Hills neighborhood. A number of people dressed in FBI gear were spotted at a house near N. 16th St and Glebe Rd.
There’s no need to worry, though. Neighbors report it appears the FBI was using the private residence for a training exercise.
Don’t be surprised if you hear what sounds like gunshots near the Pentagon this weekend. The Pentagon’s police agency is planning to conduct a “live fire calibration test” between 6:00 a.m. and noon on Sunday.
From a Pentagon Force Protection Agency press release:
It may be a long night if you’re a light sleeper. Two separate training exercises are threatening to make some noise in the Arlington area during the wee hours of the morning.
First, a “series of training flights” is planned between 3:00 and 5:00 a.m.
(Updated at 4:20 p.m.) It looked like a scene from an action movie, but it was really just a training exercise.
FBI agents, dressed in camouflage body armor and armed with faux automatic weapons, practiced raiding a home in Waverly Hills today. The home, near the corner of 16th Street and N. Glebe Road, was vacant and made available for law enforcement training by the property owner.
