FORT HOOD, Texas - Fort Hood and surrounding cities will conduct an annual Force Protection Exercise May 7-8 at various location on and off the installation.

The exercise will rehearse Fort Hood, local, state and federal emergency response procedures. Several agencies including on-post and neighboring community police, fire and medical personnel will respond to several emergencies throughout the two-day exercise.

The exercise consists of several incident locations; specific locations are not disclosed in an effort to maintain realistic responses. During the exercise, traffic control measures will be implemented in the vicinity of the incident locations which may result in short delays. Routine traffic on the installation is expected to experience minimal, if any, impact. 

In addition to emergency response vehicles and personnel, residents may observe smoke or other visual or audio effects in the incident areas.

The exercise should end in the afternoon on May 8. During the exercise, the emergency warning system (loudspeakers) will be used to simulate commands, i.e. “Shelter in Place.” All exercise instructions will be preceded and followed by “EXERCISE, EXERCISE, EXERCISE.” Residents should not be alarmed and need not respond. 

The bulk of the activity will take place 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m. May 7. 

Media interested in covering the exercise must call the Fort Hood Public Affairs office at (254) 287-9993/0106 no later than 4 p.m. May 6. Gate time is 8 a.m. May 7 in the south parking lot of the Marvin Leath Visitors Center located on TJ Mills Blvd. There will only be one convoy to the exercise incident location.