DARK WINTER WAS A JOHN HOPKINS CENTER for HEALTH SECURITY SMALL POX PANDEMIC SCENARIO ROUND TABLE TEST

The Dark Winter exercise, held at Andrews AFB, Washington, DC, June 22-23, 2001, portrayed a fictional scenario depicting a covert smallpox attack on US citizens. The scenario is set in 3 successive National Security Council (NSC) meetings (Segments 1, 2 and 3) that take place over a period of 14 days. Former senior government officials played the roles of NSC members responding to the evolving epidemic; representatives from the media were among the observers of these mock NSC meetings and played journalists during the scenario's press conferences.

Key Players

President: The Hon. Sam Nunn

National Security Advisor: The Hon. David Gergen

Director of Central Intelligence: The Hon. R. James Woolsey

Secretary of Defense: The Hon. John White

Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff: General John Tilelli (USA, Ret.)

Secretary of Health & Human Services: The Hon. Margaret Hamburg

Secretary of State: The Hon. Frank Wisner

Attorney General: The Hon. George Terwilliger

Director, Federal Emergency Management Agency: Mr. Jerome Hauer

Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation: The Hon. William Sessions

Governor of Oklahoma: The Hon. Frank Keating

Press Secretary of Gov. Frank Keating (OK): Mr. Dan Mahoney

Correspondent, NBC News: Mr. Jim Miklaszewski

Pentagon Producer, CBS News: Ms. Mary Walsh

Reporter, British Broadcasting Corporation: Ms. Sian Edwards

Reporter, The New York Times: Ms. Judith Miller

Reporter, Freelance: Mr. Lester Reingold

https://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/our-work/events-archive/2001_dark-winter/