U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Office for Domestic Preparedness 

Scheduling, Training and Exercise Secure Portal Program Information 

Secure Portal – Background 

In early 2002, the U.S. Department of Homeland 

Security/Office for Domestic Preparedness 

(USDHS/ODP) recognized the need to coordinate the 

scheduling of training and exercises, collect 

evaluation data with its training partners, and share 

exercise information and materials with states and 

local jurisdictions. The USDHS/ODP Secure Portal 

was developed to meet these needs. 

USDHS/ODP and its customers will benefit from this 

solution by having real-time updates to training and 

exercise activities, training course evaluations, and a 

resource library of sample exercise materials and 

information. 

Implemented over the Internet, no client software is 

required by users other than a modern web browser 

(i.e., Netscape or Internet Explorer) supporting SSL 

and 128-bit encryption. The portal’s web address is: 

https://odp.esportals.com/

Training Overview 

The Secure Portal provides USDHS/ODP with a realtime overview of preparedness training activities. It 

begins with USDHS/ODP developing a training 

allocation plan. This plan is entered into the portal 

and used to track the progress toward meeting that 

plan. 

The Training Partners and Consortium members then 

offer classes by scheduling dates via the portal. The 

portal identifies the number of expected deliveries of 

each class and displays the number of deliveries that 

have been requested by participants. 

The states can then request class dates to fill their 

allocations for each course. States may request 

alternates for each desired date, and USDHS/ODP 

will resolve conflicts as they arise. Student 

registration information can be entered at this time. 

The portal will check class capacity and send 

notifications if the class appears to be underutilized. 

After class delivery, student evaluations are entered 

into the portal. This evaluation information is then 

available and reported back to USDHS/ODP and 

the Training Partners/Consortium Members. 

Finally, after a predetermined period of time, the 

portal sends out follow-up evaluations to a random 

subset of students that submitted evaluations. This 

information is again collected and reported back to 

ODP and the Training Partners/Consortium members 

and provides USDHS/ODP with a quality control 

mechanism to foster the continuous improvement of 

its programs.

Training Partner / Consortium Members 

The Secure Portal provides training partners and 

consortium members with direct, real-time access to 

the scheduling data. Through the portal, you can: 

• Offer classes 

• Update class status, dates, and times 

• Cancel a class 

• Enroll students 

• Run attendance/capacity reports 

• Run course wide evaluation summaries 

• Receive follow-up summary reports 

The system will notify the appropriate individuals of 

updates made via the portal. Automatic reports will 

be generated to identify changes to the class 

schedule. 

The portal also supports real-time attendance 

information, as well as class POC information. The 

portal automatically stores the total amount of 

allocated deliveries, along with a real time control 

panel that displays the number of deliveries 

remaining and the status of all existing scheduled 

deliveries. 

In addition, the portal allows you to enter the results 

of the standard USDHS/ODP evaluations after the 

class has been completed. Once the data has been 

entered, you are sent (via the portal) a report 

summarizing the results of the evaluation. 

After a designated period of time, the portal 

automatically sends out follow-up surveys, which are 

automatically collected and processed. 
Training Requests

State Administrative Agencies or their designated 

training Point of Contact (POC) can use the Secure 

Portal to request classes based on available training 

allocations in keeping with their strategy and State 

Assistance Plans. The portal will allow you to: 

• View real time class offerings 

• Request deliveries 

• Register students to deliveries 

• View/Edit POC information 

• Run attendance/capacity reports 

The portal tracks class deliveries in real time, from 

the creation of the delivery, to delivery request, 

through class delivery and completion. For each 

class delivery, the portal stores POC information, 

student registration, and class capacity information. 

Exercise Overview 

The exercise portion of USDHS/ODP’s secure portal 

includes the following materials, tools and 

capabilities: 

• Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation 

Program (HSEEP) Volumes I-IV 

• Library of sample exercise materials and 

resources 

• Exercise scheduling system 

• Interim exercise reporting process 

• Community forum to share ideas 

• Link to lessons learned/best practices 

database 

HSEEP Library 

HSEEP is a threat and performance-based exercise 

program that provides doctrine and policy for 

planning, conducting, and evaluating exercises. It is 

delivered to state and local exercise planners via a 

series of manuals: 

• HSEEP Volume I: Overview and Doctrine 

(Revision 2) provides requirements and 

guidance for the establishment and 

maintenance of a homeland security exercise 

program.

• HSEEP Volume II: Exercise Evaluation and 

Improvement provides proven methodology 

for conducting evaluations of homeland 

security exercises and implementing an 

improvement program.

• HSEEP Volume III: Exercise Program 

Management and Exercise Design and 

Development assists planners in establishing 

an exercise program and outlines a 

standardized planning process adaptable to 

any type of exercise.

• HSEEP Volume IV: Sample Exercise 

Documents and Formats provide samples 

and formats of exercise documents 

referenced in the HSEEP manuals. The 

organization of Volume IV is consistent with 

the outline and explanations contained in 

Volume III. 

An electronic version of each HSEEP manual and all 

Volume IV materials are located in the portal’s 

library. 

Exercise Scheduler 

The Secure Portal will contain an Exercise Scheduler 

to facilitate coordination between Federal, state, and 

local jurisdictions. This tool will also minimize the 

personnel hours required to schedule and report an 

exercise. 

States and their respective local jurisdictions will be 

able to schedule exercise planning conferences and 

exercise conduct dates through the portal’s Exercise 

Scheduler. A calendar will be created for each state, 

based on exercise data (i.e., dates, times, type of 

exercise, etc.) entered by participating agencies and 

jurisdictions. This will allow states to track and 

coordinate all exercise activities occurring throughout 

their jurisdictions and share schedules with 

USDHS/ODP. 

Interim Exercise Reporting Process 

USDHS/ODP is currently working with other Federal 

and state partners to develop a formal, collaborative 

web-based reporting system. Documentation that 

will be submitted to USDHS/ODP includes: 

• After-Action Reports (AARs) 

• Improvement Plans (IPs) 

• Multi-year Exercise Plans 

In the interim of this reporting system, the Secure 

Portal will allow states to submit this required 

documentation to USDHS/ODP. Final AARs and 

Multi-year Exercise Plans that were developed 

through ODP direct support exercises have been 

posted to the portal’s library under each state’s 

respective folder. 
HSEEP Forum 

USDHS/ODP’s Exercise Division welcomes 

suggestions, ideas and comments on all HSEEP 

volumes and materials. The secure portal offers a 

collaborative environment in which documents can 

be enhanced and updated based on new ideas or 

changing conditions. A link to USDHS/ODP’s 

lessons learned/best practices database has also been 

placed on the portal. 

Additional exercise tools will be posted, and existing 

materials will be updated regularly, so users should 

monitor the site for enhancements to the portal. 

Access/Security 

SAAs and their designated training and exercise 

points of contact will receive invitations to the portal 

via email. Once registered, the state will be granted 

administrative rights (one to three representatives 

only) to invite agency and jurisdiction training and 

exercise coordinators.

Only USDHS/ODP managers and the respective 

state/jurisdiction representatives will have access 

to specific state materials and information (i.e., 

schedules, training evaluations, etc.). 

System Requirements 

Users must provide their own access to the Internet. 

The system does not rely heavily on graphics, so a 

dial-up connection should provide adequate 

performance, however a higher-speed connection is 

recommended for users who need to download larger 

files (e.g., sample exercise documents or 

presentations). 

Most firewalls do not interfere with access to the 

portal applications. If you have problems accessing 

the site, the help desk is available at (804) 744-8800 

or via email at helpdesk@espgroup.net. 

For More Information 

For additional information, please contact the CSID 

Help Line at 1-800-368-6498.