The first national and international civil defense test exercise on the inter-American continent was held June 14 and 15, 1954. The 48 States, the District of Columbia, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands participated as did the Canadian Government and its provinces. Operation Alert 1954 gave valuable training to hundreds of thousands of civil defense workers and tested certain civil defense operational capabilities. (FCDA, 1954 Annual Report, p. 1; See also: P. 34-45, 73-74, 90-91) In addition to educating the public and training civil defensee organizations, the test pointed up the overall civil defense problem, the extent of national readiness, the Federal Government's responsibilities in a national emergency, and the need for improved organiztion and procdeures for emergency operations. As a result of the exercise, changes were made in the emergency communications system, requirement for operational data from the field, requirements for action by national headquarters, training of FCDA personnel, aande the method of holdidng civil defense exercises. Most far-reaching of the changes was that involving the communications system. (FCDA, 1954 Annual Report, p. 74)