Six months after hurricane Matthew struck the coast of the Southeast United States, the state of Georgia hosted a large-scale training exercise to respond to real-life disaster scenarios. Over two years of planning, immense amounts of hard work and approximately 9,000 personnel came together in the culminating event conducted March 23-31, 2017. The Georgia Department of Defense and the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency teamed to co-host Vigilant Guard 17. United States Northern Command, in conjunction with the National Guard Bureau, sponsored the exercise.
