LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Emergency officials from Louisville and Southern Indiana participated in a large-scale counterterrorism training excercise on Friday.


What You Need To Know

  • 350 first responders participated in “Operation Thunderstruck”

  • ”Operation Thunderstruck” is a large-scale counter terrorism training exercise

  • The training exercise included training personnel and educating the community about response plans

  • The Louisville Metro Bomb Squad got to use their robot in a real-world situation

More than 350 first responders and officials put their training to the test in “Operation Thunderstruck,” made possible through $2.3 million Complex Coordinated Terrorist Attack (CCTA) funding.

The active shooter and counterterrorism training exercise allowed law enforcement agencies to respond to multiple situations. The training also included representatives of federal, state and local governments.

“We try to do these a couple times a year and, as horrible a subject as it is, we've got to prepare our responders to what they may face so we try to make it as realistic as we can,” said Jody Meiman, executive director of Louisville Metro Emergency Services.

For the Louisville Metro Bomb Squad, it was an opportunity to use their robot in a real world situation. 

Chris McMichael, bomb squad commander, said their robot is named after Detective Arleigh McCree. McCree was killed on Feb. 8, 1986 while attempting to defuse two bobby-trapped pipe bombs.

“It’s name is actually McCree, on the side you see we named it that because McCree is a bomb tech that died in the line of duty and he paved the way for robots and bomb suits to be used by police departments,” McMichael said.

The robot essentially serves as another member of the team.

“If it's too unsafe, we can shoot a package from the robot, we can x-ray a package from the robot, it's just like another one of us but it is a little bit safer,” McMichael said.

Participants were able to focus on training personnel and educating the community about plans and processes designed to respond to an incident.

“A lot of people don't like to talk about it but unfortunately these things are happening so we have to educate our responders, the public on what to do in case something like this happens so that they know exactly what they're going to face in the field,” Meiman said.

The training included fatality management, family assistance and reunification centers. Several different organizations and agencies were able to collaborate.

“It makes me feel good that we've got such good partners in the community. All of our first responding agencies always say you never want to meet on the hood of a car in an incident so we know each other by first name, we know who to call in different circumstances when we need them," McMichael said

The process is designed in a way that first responders and officials can address and resolve problems that occurred throughout the scenario – something McMichael said is crucial when it comes to improvements.

“It's always good for us to debrief after every scenario, large or small, we debrief the situation so that we can get better," he said. "There's always room to improve on our experience and this will be one of them.”

Louisville Metro Emergency Services said they're planning another training for next Spring.

“Operation Thunderstruck” is sponsored by the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, Kentucky Division of Emergency Management, Kentucky Office of Homeland Security and Louisville Metro Emergency Services.