Preparedness is the shared responsibility of our entire Nation.

Each community contributes to achieving the National Preparedness Goal by assessing and preparing for the risks that are most relevant and urgent for them individually, which in turn strengthens our collective security and resilience

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as a Nation.

As new threats and hazards emerge, communities need to assess their risk and take the necessary steps to prepare.

From 2008 to present, recent terrorist incidents, such as those in Boston, Massachusetts, Nairobi, Kenya, San Bernardino, California, Paris, France, and Brussels, Belgium, highlight the emergence of a more recent threat known as complex coordinated terrorist attacks.

Complex coordinated terrorist attacks are acts of terrorism that:
involve synchronized and independent team(s) at multiple locations sequentially or in close succession, initiated with little or no warning, and employing one or more weapon systems :
firearms, explosives, fire as a weapon, and other non-traditional attack methodologies which are intended to result in large numbers of casualties.

These attacks represent an evolving and dynamic terrorist threat, shifting from symbolic, highly planned and structured Al Qaeda-style attacks (terrorist-directed) focused on high-visibility targets to threats that are more diffuse, difficult to detect, and less costly to implement (terrorist-inspired).

The emergence of these types of threats represent a need for communities to work towards strengthening their capabilities in order to prepare for, prevent, and respond to a complex, coordinated attack.

The Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Program to Prepare Communities for Complex Coordinated Terrorist Attacks provides funding to local, state, tribal, and territorial jurisdictions of different types, sizes, and capabilities to improve their ability to prepare for, prevent, and respond to complex coordinated terrorist attacks in collaboration with the whole community.

The whole community approach should aim to include individuals and communities, the private and nonprofit sectors, faith-based organizations, and all levels of government (local, regional/metropolitan, state, tribal, territorial, insular area, and Federal).

The Program also focuses on developing regional partnerships intended to strengthen the applicant¿s capacity for building and sustaining capabilities specific to identifying gaps, planning, training, and exercising associated with preparing for, preventing, and responding to a complex coordinated terrorist attack.