The Russians Were Coming

ON MARCH 29, THE FEDERAl Emergency Management Agency canceled National Level Exercise 2020, its national emergency preparedness drill. The regular biannual series of events, which included a variety of drills around the country, had been underway since late last year and had been scheduled to run through the second week of May. The decision to cancel was probably unavoidable, given the coronavirus pandemic, but, according to a former senior military official, it also highlights FEMA’s failure to get ready for the real crisis.

“Obviously FEMA and the rest of the government is seized with dealing with the real world,” says a former U.S. Northern Command commander. NORTHCOM’s mission is to provide military aid when needed to U.S. civilian authorities in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

But that senior officer, who did not have permission to speak on the record and requested anonymity, lamented that the planning behind NLE 2020 reveals