What is required is the development and maintenance of a comprehensive database of actual emergency deployments sorted by State and locality and differentiated by the type of emergency scenario encountered. These observations would be in the form of "lessons learned," and they would be used extensively in follow-up exercises and continuing training across jurisdictions as examples of best practices. This article recommends that there be Federal funding for State-level databases of "lessons learned" that would be retained at land-grant colleges and used for homeland security research. Further, case studies should be acquired from State and local governments by type of emergency incident. A shared database should be developed on key ICS issues associated with handling various types of complex crises that occur in regional settings. Lessons learned and best practices accumulated nationwide regarding ICS operations and coordination should be incorporated in all subsequent State and Federal emergency preparedness exercises. The search for best practices should extend to other countries and be included in the database when they can be adapted to use in the United States.