Over the last eight hours, I have been bombarded with tips and questions regarding a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter buzzing around Chicago with fully kitted commandos hanging out of its doors and deploying on rooftops around the city. Some people were alarmed by what they were seeing and wondered if there was a crisis taking place. Others were thrilled as the special operators fast-roped from the helicopter and took up positions along high rise rooflines. A couple were even wondering if this was another Transformers movie being filmed in the city. I can definitely assure you that is not the case and that there is nothing to worry about. But that doesn't make the spectacle any less interesting.

What Chicagoans have been seeing is a training operation. I talked to the Chicago Police Department about the sightings and they told me that they were given notice that the drills would commence but would not tell me anything else, such as who was training. But it really didn't seem like they knew if it was specifically law enforcement or military. But that's beside the point. It is an exercise and it is not part of any operational mission. I have also reached out to the Illinois Military Department and National Guard for more details, but I have yet to hear back.