Guam is strengthening its defenses, hosting a first-of-its-kind ballistic missile response tabletop exercise with federal and local leaders coming together.

The 2025 Pacific Alert Tabletop exercise is not about physically working out the kinks just yet, but about coordination, communication, and consequence management when every second counts.

Homeland Security Advisor Esther Aguigui pointed to the ongoing missile exchange between Iran and Israel as a stark reminder that crises abroad can have direct consequences at home.

“These real-world scenarios remind us that threats we prepare for are not theoretical. They are current realities that underscore the critical importance of our preparedness efforts,” said Aguigui. 

She adds that while Guam’s threat level remains unchanged, our proximity to foreign nation state threats and distance from resource centers makes strategic readiness a non-negotiable.

“This reality underscores why we must be exceptionally well prepared and strategically coordinated in our response capabilities,” added Aguigui. 

The closed door exercise focused on five main objectives: Operational coordination, public information and warning systems, mass search and rescue, logistics and supply chain management, and infrastructure resilience.

Bob Fenton, FEMA Region 9 Administrator, says this is where disaster aid truly begins, long before a crisis hits.

“The next most important part is involving the whole community in that. So, while we have leaders from different segments of government and key organizations, it’s really important that this gets translated to the community and we educate the community,” said Fenton. 

And in 90 days, a comprehensive after action report should be ready for review, identified gaps and providing solutions.

In 120 days, a full report will be available for public viewing.

“We owe [that to] the people of Guam. The people of Guam need to know what we’re doing. Of course some operational aspects need to remain secure,” added Aguigui. 

Both FEMA and Homeland Security say this is just the start and the lessons learnt from this will inform future exercises and possibly, a full-scale one.

But for now, their message is clear: Whether a disaster is natural or manmade, the time to prepare is now, and it includes everyone.