Amalgam Virgo

Operation Amalgam Virgo was a North American Aerospace Defence Command joint (multi-service) task counter-terrorist and field training exercise (FTX) carried out in Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida on early June 2001.^[1] NORAD sponsored the multi-agency planning exercise involving the hypothetical scenario of a cruise missile or UAV launched by a terrorist group. Key military players involved in the exercise also included personnel from the 1st Air Force battalion, the National Guard, the U.S. Reserve forces, and the U.S. Navy.

Amalgam Virgo 01 (1–2 June / 2001) Click PDF

Several naval ships including the USS Yorktown (CG-48), a Navy Aegis cruiser, were dispatched to the Gulf of Mexico as part of the exercise. Personnel from the 1st Air Force also gathered radar information on low-level targets by using the Joint-Based Expeditionary Connectivity Center (JBECC), a deployable mobile shelter while providing early warning signals of cruise missile attacks.