By Trina A. San Agustin
Variety News Staff

GOVERNOR Felix P. Camacho’s State of the Island Address on Monday cited ongoing efforts to prepare the Government of Guam and the entire island for a large scale anti-terrorism exercise on Guam.
The Guam Office of Homeland Security and Civil Defense yesterday said the Top Officials 4 or TOPOFF4 exercise will be held on Guam in October.
Roland Delfin, planning CORE team member for Guam TOPOFF4 Group, told Variety that the exercise is a combined effort of the federal and local government in testing their capabilities in an “all hazards approach.”
“Basically, it goes all the way up to the White House. The president and his cabinet will decide on ways they can assist the local government when they reach beyond their response capabilities...If we exhaust all our resources even with the assistance of the Department of Defense here on Guam, the federal government will decide what federal entities to send to Guam,” Delfin said.
This exercise will involve all GovGuam agencies and several federal agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Defense.
“Everybody will be there, because it requires tapping into resources to send assistance to Guam,” he added.
Delfin said Guam is just one of three venues. The other two venues are Oregon and Arizona. Guam and Oregon will hold a full scale exercise, while Arizona will conduct more of a functional exercise.
There were three previous exercises, thus the name TOPOFF4 for the October exercise.
“This will show how the federal government can assist if there are three disasters happening in the same time. This is the fourth in a series,” he added.
The exercise will last 10 days. But Delfin said federal officials will visit Guam 30 days prior to the exercise to survey the island in preparation for the event.
“We are looking at something that may involve terrorism. It may be a radiological dispersal device occurring on island and that will entail seeing the capabilities, policies, and procedures. Testing those with GovGuam agencies and what their sustaining operations can be until the federal government shows up on island,” Delfin said.
The two-fold exercise will test GovGuam policies and procedures so they may see where they stand.
“Because it is called TOPPOFF4, they will rate the federal officials from the White House to their departments and agencies. They will get graded on their support and correct whatever problems there maybe,” he added.
Delfin also said that Guam will receive national attention.
“One of the reasons Guam was selected is because we are the most outer reaches of the U.S. territories and what places an interest here is the international counterparts like Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, and South Korea. We all share an interest. If something were to happen out here, what kind of response the U.S. will have for their citizens?” he said.