"The National Exercise Schedule (NEXS) is a compilation of all National-level, Federal, State, tribal, territorial, and local exercises. The NEXS serves as a management tool and reference document for exercise planning. It provides information on exercise date, location, scenario, scope, and participants. The purpose of the NEXS is to provide visibility of upcoming exercises to leadership, exercise planners, and exercise schedulers. The NEXS was established to support the directive presented to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD) -8. HSPD-8 directs that DHS, in coordination with other appropriate Federal Departments and agencies, establish a "national program and a multi-year planning system to conduct homeland security preparednessrelated exercises that reinforces identified training standards, provides for evaluation of readiness, and supports the National Preparedness Goal". (DHS, Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program Toolkit -- The National Exercise Schedule, September 13, 2007)