PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. — North American Aerospace Defense Command will conduct a short duration exercise Amalgam Arrow Wednesday (June 10, 2009) over Washington, D.C., one in a series of training flights held in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Capital Region Command Center, the Joint Air Defense Operations Center, the Continental U.S. NORAD Region, Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Coast Guard and CONR's Eastern and Western Air Defense Sectors.
The exercise is designed to hone NORAD's intercept and identification operations, as well as procedural tests of NORAD’s Visual Warning System.
Air Force fighters will participate along with U.S. Coast Guard and Civil Air Patrol aircraft.
These exercises are carefully planned and closely controlled to ensure NORAD's rapid response capability. NORAD has conducted exercise flights of this nature throughout the U.S. and Canada since the start of Operation Noble Eagle, the command's response to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, NORAD fighters have responded to more than 2,100 possible air threats in the United States and have flown more than 51,000 sorties with the support of Airborne Warning and Control System and air-to-air-refueling aircraft.