CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) - U.S. military aircraft are practicing for worst case scenarios in the skies over the Washington, DC area in an effort to secure the skies on Inauguration Day.

On Wednesday, Air Force fighter jets and Coast Guard helicopters practiced chasing wayward planes that may fly into restricted areas around Washington.

The rehearsal is dubbed "Falcon Virgo" by the military.

"These exercises are carefully planned and closely controlled to ensure NORAD's(North American Aerospace Defense Command) rapid response capability," according to a statement from NORAD.

Officials would not talk about specifics about the practice for security reasons, but similar exercises have occurred around the country in the past after September 11, 2001.

In an interview with CNN, commander of forces in North America, General Gene Renuart spoke about keeping watch over the United States and special events such as the Presidential Inauguration.

"We feel very comfortable that we can monitor anything that we need to in the national capital region," Renuart said.

In past alerts military fighter aircraft or Coast guard helicopters would identify a suspicious plane and swoop in and keep the plane from taking any hostile actions.

"That aircraft would be identified and if we felt that we could not determine its intentions we could launch fighters to intercept that aircraft and being to identify that aircraft and what its intentions might be," Renuart said about any threat on Inauguration day.

According to NORAD statistics, since Sept. 11, 2001, NORAD fighters have responded to more than 2,100 possible air threats in the United States and have flown more than 51,000 sorties with the fighter and other surveillance aircraft.