The Emergency Management Institute (EMI) created the Master Exercise Practitioner Program (MEPP) in 1999 as a non-resident program to recognize those individuals who have completed prescribed training and demonstrated, through hands-on application, a high degree of professionalism and capability in the arena of emergency management exercises. In 2004, EMI began offering this title certificate program in a resident series of courses at the National Emergency Training Center (NETC) in Emmitsburg, Maryland, to meet the needs of the emergency management exercise community.

As of July 16, 2009, 1180 individuals have completed EMI’s Master Exercise Practitioner Program and are empowered to place “MEP” after their names in recognition of this accomplishment. EMI anticipates by October 1, 2009, over 1300 individuals will have successfully completed the MEPP series.

The MEPP mission is to improve the capabilities of emergency management exercise personnel in exercise program management and in every phase of the overall exercise process. Through the improvement of the knowledge, skills, and abilities, both the quantity and quality of exercises conducted at the local, State, tribal, trust territory and Federal levels of government can be improved. The National Standard Exercise Curriculum (NSEC) includes the MEPP as the Level IV: Professional level of training and includes both the resident and non-resident MEPP options for completion.

The MEPP goal is to increase the capabilities of MEPP candidates in mastery of the essentials of exercise program management and the overall exercise process in accordance with the policy, doctrine, practices, and tools in the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP).

Target Audience for the MEPP

EMI's resident and non-resident MEPP eligibility includes local, State, tribal, trust territory, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and other Federal agency emergency management/emergency services personnel with responsibilities involving emergency management exercises. This includes exercise training officers, emergency managers, emergency services personnel from fire, emergency medical, hospitals, public/environmental health, coroners, law enforcement, corrections officials, public works/utilities, community service/volunteer agencies, non-profits, and private entities who participate in emergency services/emergency management exercise design/development, conduct, evaluation, and improvement planning activities, members of exercise planning teams, evaluation teams, and/or those who manage exercise programs.

Thanks to our local, State and Federal partners, the EMI Resident MEPP Series #13 and #14 have been filled as of July 16, 2009.

In response to the numerous requests from all levels of government, the open enrollment period for Series #15 at Noble Training Facility (NTF) in Anniston, AL has been extended to September 15, 2009.

FY 2010 Schedule for Resident Emergency Management (EM) MEPP Series #13, 14, and 15

EM MEPP Series #13 – All Courses at EMI, NETC, Emmitsburg, MD (Filled July 16, 2009)

E132 Discussion-Based Exercise Design and Evaluation October 5-9, 2009 E133 Operations-Based Exercise Design and Evaluation December 11-18, 2009
(Changed from December 14-18, 2009) E136 Operations-Based Exercise Development May 3-7, 2010

EM MEPP Series #14 – All Courses at EMI, NETC, Emmitsburg, MD (Filled July 16, 2009)

E132 Discussion-Based Exercise Design and Evaluation November 2-6, 2009
E133 Operations-Based Exercise Design and Evaluation January 11-15, 2010
E136 Operations-Based Exercise Development June 14-18, 2010

EM MEPP Series #15 – OPEN ENROLLMENT EXTENDED TO SEPTEMBER 15, 2009
All courses for MEPP Series #15 will be conducted at the Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP), NTF, Anniston, AL. For information about CDP, please visit their website at: https://cdp.dhs.gov/

B132 Discussion-Based Exercise Design and Evaluation November 30 - December 3, 2009
B133 Operations-Based Exercise Design and Evaluation February 8-12, 2010
B136 Operations-Based Exercise Development July 12-16, 2010

MEPP Applicant Categories for the Resident Option (EMI courses taught in residence at NETC or NTF)

Category 1: Local, State, tribal nation, and trust territories (eligible for student stipend reimbursement and no charge lodging)
Category 2: Department of Homeland Security organizations and agencies (e.g., FEMA, TSA, USCG)
Category 3: Other Federal agencies
Category 4: Private industry
Category 5: International/foreign students

Mandatory Training Prerequisites for the MEPP

For FY2010, EMI resident MEPP applicants must complete the following EMI Independent Study (IS) courses and include copies of certificates of completion as part of their MEPP application packages.

These EMI IS courses are available on the web at http://www.training.fema.gov/IS/. A complete listing of all of the EMI IS courses can be found at http://training.fema.gov/IS/crslist.asp

IS-100.a Introduction to Incident Command System http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/IS100a.asp
IS-120.a An Introduction to Exercises http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/IS120A.asp
IS-130 Exercise Evaluation and Improvement Planning http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/IS130.asp
IS-200.a ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/is200.asp
IS-230 Principles of Emergency Management http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/is230.asp
IS-235 Emergency Planning http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/is235.asp
IS-700.a NIMS, An Introduction http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/is700a.asp
IS-775 EOC Management and Operations http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/IS775.asp
IS-800.b National Response Framework, An Introduction http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/IS800b.asp

Final Prerequisites for All FY2010 MEPP Series

For FY2010, EMI requires that all new MEPP applicants (those individuals submitting application packages during the open enrollment period (May 1 – September 15, 2009 for MEPP Series 13, 14, and 15)) MUST complete the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) training course and/or the accompanying Train-the-Trainer (TTT). This course has been administered since 2005 under Training and Exercise Integration (TEI) course catalog code MG