That banging sound people near Pentagon City and Crystal City will hear tomorrow morning may not be the usual cacophony of construction noises, but rather “flash-bangs” that are a part of a large-scale public safety exercise the Pentagon will be conducting in Arlington on Wednesday.

From 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., areas around the Pentagon, Navy Annex and Jefferson Plaza in Crystal City will be swarming with emergency vehicles, role players, observers, and media types. There will be some changes to pick up and drop off locations for metrobus lines serving the Pentagon transit hub, but schedules should not be affected by the exercise.

The D.C. area is no stranger to emergency preparedness exercises, and it’s good that residents are being given advance notice so that 911 lines are not flooded with worried callers wondering what is going on. But what this DCist would like to know, is how can one score the role of a victim in the next exercise?

Image of a mass casualty drill on board the USS Carl Vinson from the Defense Department.