Guard conducts drills in Utah

The Utah National Guard's terrorism response forces conducted drills with several law enforcement agencies Saturday morning.

Officers with the Sandy Police Department and soldiers from the guard's Quick Reaction Force responded to a simulated terrorist threat at the Sandy Civic Center TRAX Station and Sandy City Hall Saturday morning. Guard officials advised that soldiers would be in military vehicles and carrying military weapons without ammunition.

The exercises were conducted early so they wouldn't interrupt TRAX service.

Guard Quick Reaction Force soldiers also conducted mock terrorist drills in Duchesne County as well as on the BYU campus.

Officials said the Quick Reaction Force is able to deploy anywhere in the state in less than 24 hours and is trained and equipped to respond to "real-world" threats at the request of the governor or military combatant commander.

Saturday's exercises concluded a week's worth of training that began on Nov. 12.