Tabletop Exercise
Also called: TTX · Topic: Natural Hazards and Disaster Management in India · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
A Tabletop Exercise (TTX) is a practice exercise held on paper and through discussion. No troops, boats or relief supplies are actually moved. Officers from different agencies sit together and work through a pretend disaster, step by step. They check their plans, who is in charge of what, who gives orders to whom (command relationships), and how agencies will coordinate. It is cheap and quick, and it finds gaps in plans before a real emergency. However, it cannot show whether people and supplies can actually reach the spot. A helicopter landing on a flooded field or a boat reaching a beach in rough sea can only be tested in a live drill. That is why a tabletop is best followed by a field exercise.
Example
Sanyukt Vimochan 2024, a multi-agency disaster relief exercise led by the Indian Army, began with a tabletop exercise. The scenario was a cyclone striking coastal Gujarat. After that, the teams moved on to field activity. This pairing of a tabletop first and a live drill second is the usual model in India's own disaster exercises.
Don't confuse with
- Field exercise (mock drill / live exercise): forces and equipment are really deployed on the ground or at sea, so it tests logistics and real conditions. A TTX tests only decisions and coordination.