Another Ill-Conceived Training Exercise

Remember the photo/training mission that sent Air Force One flying low over New York City? The local authorities were not notified of the mission, and may local residents were panicked at what they feared was another attack.

Looks like somebody in the Federal government has blown it again. First, this part of the story:

The U.S. Coast Guard tried Friday to prevent a boat from entering a security zone on the Potomac River not far from the Pentagon, where President Obama was at an event commemorating the September 11 attacks.

There were reports on police scanners that the Coast Guard fired 10 rounds of ammunition, but those reports could not immediately be confirmed. It was not immediately clear from the reports whether they referred to warning shots.

The incident took place between the Memorial and 14th Street bridges, in a zone that had been blocked off because of the ceremonies.

Obama had departed the Pentagon shortly after 10 a.m. ET. Reports of the incident came in shortly after 10 a.m. ET.

The Coast Guard Command Center said it had no immediate information.

Information is coming out now that this was a training exercise conducted without the knowledge of local authorities. Reagan Airport was shut down for a period of time (it borders the Potomac in the area where this all happened), and took place on 9/11 as the president was heading to the Pentagon for the ceremony.

What bonehead thought this would be a great time to conduct a terrorism exercise?

I predict this story will get very big and someone will be looking for a new career.

UPDATE: CNN did not distinguish itself this morning:

CNN USA first reported that the Coast Guard had opened fire on a suspicious ship on the river, which was allegedly attempting to enter restricted waters near the Pentagon, just as President Obama's motorcade was passing-by.

"It was a Coast Guard exercise," a police spokeswoman told BNO News by phone. According to media reports, the Coast Guard fired fake bullets during the exercise.

But not only was it a bad-timed exercise in the heart of the U.S. capital, also CNN apparently jumped to report the incident when emergency services, during the exercise, discussed the fake incident on emergency scanners. Reporters on air were seen discussing the possibility of a terrorist attack and if an attack could have hit the Pentagon when the boat succeeded into the restricted area.

Later, CNN withheld reports from the Associated Press, which it regularly uses for its news reports, which stated that the Coast Guard confirmed there was an exercise.

The CNN reports were immediately picked up by other national media, and international media, including BNO News.

CNN spread panic for nothing.