Coast Guard Training Exercise on Potomac River Creates Scare

A U.S. Coast Guard training exercise on the Potomac River sparked erroneous news reports that 10 shots had been fired at a recreation boat Friday, the eighth anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The Coast Guard was conducting a “routine and low-profile” training exercise when unspecified “members of the public” intercepted clear-channel, unencrypted Coast Guard radio transmissions regarding the exercise.

Apparently someone concluded that the Coast Guard was trying to intercept a real vessel before it reached a restricted zone near the Pentagon, where President Obama attended a ceremony for the 9/11 attacks. The reports sparked security scares for surrounding areas and prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to temporarily ground planes at Reagan National Airport.

Federal agency emergency operations centers, including the Secret Service, Harbor Patrol and the D.C. police, were not notified of the exercise.

Coast Guard Vice Adm. John Currier says no shots were fired. “No shots were fired. There was no suspect vessel. There was no criminal activity. . . . This was a routine training exercise,” he said.

The Coast Guard has promised a “thorough review” of the incident.  

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