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Coast Guard to Review Training Procedures after September 11 Scare


The chief of staff of the U.S. Coast Guard says officials will review training procedures after a scare on the eighth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

The television network CNN initially reported Friday that the Coast Guard fired 10 shots at a suspicious boat on the Potomac River in Washington.

But Vice Admiral John Currier says no shots were fired during what was a routine training exercise.

The event took place just minutes after President Barack Obama spoke nearby at the Pentagon. Mr. Obama was attending a ceremony to mark the anniversary of the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in 2001.

Currier says because of the media reports, the Federal Aviation Administration temporarily kept aircraft on the ground at Reagan National Airport, next to the Potomac.

Currier says the words "bang, bang," were spoken on the radio as part of the training. He also says anyone with a scanner could have intercepted the open communications over an unencrypted radio channel.

The admiral adds that his comments do not constitute an apology for a normal training exercise.

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