FEMA NED will be accepting requests for exercise support as part of the National Exercise Program 2025 Exercise Support Request (ESR) Round, from January 1, 2025, through March 3, 2025. After the submission deadline, NED will review all requests received and issue support decisions by July 1, 2025.
FEMA will host a series of webinars and open office hours to discuss the exercise support process, including how to request this technical assistance for exercises.
- Download and complete the NED Exercise Support Request Form. The NED Exercise Support Request Form is a fillable adobe pdf file that should be saved and completed by a SLTT partner looking to receive support for an exercise from the NED.
- Coordinate with the appropriate FEMA Regional Exercise Officer (REO): Exercise sponsors should coordinate exercise support request submissions with the appropriate REO prior to submission to ensure that the exercise support request form is complete.
- Submit the NED Exercise Support Request Form. All completed exercise support request forms and supporting materials must be emailed to respective SLTT REOs and NEP@fema.dhs.gov prior to the submission deadline. The subject line of the email should be “National Exercise Division Exercise Support Request”.
- Participate in a Pre-decisional Scoping Call – NEP Exercise Program Manager (EPM) will reach out to sponsors to schedule and hold a call in March to coordinate potential form updates or revisions. This call will help to scope the exercise and understand how the exercise support requested is aligned with the eligibility requirements.
Note: participating in a pre-decisional scoping call is required to request support but does not guarantee an exercise will receive support.
Exercise Support Request Requirements
For an exercise support request submission to be considered, the following eligibility requirements must be met:
- All exercise support requests must be sponsored by an SLTT government organization.
- Nonprofit, private sector, and federal entities can submit requests on the condition that the support request is co-sponsored by an SLTT government organization. Academic institutions that are state funded can receive support without a co-sponsor. Private academic institutions must have a request that is co-sponsored by an SLTT government organization.
- All sponsors must provide documentation of plans or corrective actions that the exercise will validate (e.g., completed plans, draft plans, after-action report/improvement plan [IP]).
- Sponsors that have previously received support from NED must provide Improvement Plans, or other documentation of progress made on improvements since the previous exercise(s).
- All support requests must be reviewed by the appropriate FEMA Regional Exercise Officer (REO) prior to submission. Refer to the REO contact information to begin coordination with your REO today.
- Sponsors must participate in a pre-decisional scoping call with their NED EPM to review the request form. NED EMPs will set up these calls with sponsors.
- Discussion-based exercise must have a conduct date of November 3, 2025, or later.
- Operations-based exercises must have a conduct date of February 2, 2026, or later.
- Email your REO and the NEP inbox with your ESR Form and required documentation no later than 11:59 PM ET on March 3, 2025.
- The submitted exercise support requests include all required documentation.
Frequently Asked Questions About Exercise Support
Is an Exercise Series Eligible for Support?
It is possible to receive support for an exercise series. You can choose to either submit multiple exercises from a series to the same support request round or split submissions over multiple rounds depending on development timeline. You are required to submit separate Exercise Support Requests for each exercise in your series.
It is not guaranteed that every exercise submitted as part of a series will be accepted for NED support.
Can I Receive NED Support to Develop Real-World After-Action Reports?
Real-world After-Action Report development is not eligible for NED support; any submitted support requests for real-world After-Action Reports will not be considered.
Exercise Support request Submission Review and Rating
NED Exercise Program Managers (EPMs) and Regional Exercise Officers (REOs) review each exercise support requests, prioritizing requests based on the request documentation submitted and the pre-decisional scoping call outcomes. Additionally, each request is scored based on an algorithm that is designed to facilitate decision-making. The algorithm prioritizes exercises using a transparent, intuitive scoring method. The algorithm will extract data from the Exercise Support Request (ESR) Form and provide a score out of a total of 100 points. The figure below shows how the combination of the score and panel priority work together to inform which exercise are supported.
My Jurisdiction Does Not Need Any Exercise Support From NED, Can I Still Participate in the NEP?
After action reports (AARs) contain crucial data that, when viewed in the aggregate with exercises conducted nationwide, provide vital insights into preparedness trends and help shape priorities for the nation’s exercises. Sponsors interested in sharing AAR results can submit data directly to NEP@fema.dhs.gov.