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Soldiers joined police and firefighters on New York's Randall's Island to train for 'America's worst day' this week, to prepare for the event of a catastrophic terrorist attack on the Big Apple.

Pictures show the Army's Task Force 46 being coached how to respond to a nuclear or biological attack on the New York City subway or Yankee stadium.

Around 170 soldiers from across the country participated in the three-day 'Dense Urban Terrain Exercise' joint exercise with personnel from the NYPD and FDNY last week on the island that separates Harlem River and East River.

The training exercise comes almost one month away from the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks by al-Qaeda on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon - which in addition to the crash of United 93 claimed almost 3,000 American lives.

Pictured: Rescue personnel prepare for a homeland defense emergency drill involving a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attack in an urban environment, at the New York Fire Department Training Academy on Randall's Island in New York City, on August 4, 2021

Pictured: Rescue personnel evacuate 'victims' from a subway train during the joint exercise of Randall's Island undertaken by the Army's Task Force 46, the NYPD and the FDNY

Pictured: Rescue personnel train to evacuate 'victims' from a subway train and tunnel in an exercise to prepare for a nuclear or biological attack on the New York City

'Everybody needs to get back to training,' said Col. Chris McKinney, chief of staff of the special task force.

'And you see the happiness on the kids' faces 'cause they're getting to practice their craft, and they're getting to learn it from the best in the business,' he added. 'So, I mean, FDNY, NYPD here — they've done so much stuff,' McKinney said. 

Task Force 46, which was formed in 2013, practised how to carry out search and rescue efforts in a disaster situation and chemical decontaminations. 

Their training included simulated nuclear, chemical and biological attacks, according to the Army Times, with the outlet saying that the soldiers were required to go underground and crawl through black-out conditions in subway car simulations in search or 'injured' people.

Pictures from the training showed participants in the exercise working to rescue 'victims' - a combination of volunteers and mannequins - from a subway train.

The 'victims' are shown being carried on stretchers through dark tunnels, with the train carriages barely lit by orange light to simulate fire and other emergency lighting to replicate a disaster situation.

Around 170 soldiers from across the country participated in the three-day 'Dense Urban Terrain Exercise' joint exercise. Pictured: Rescue personnel evacuate 'victims' from a subway station

Pictured: An emergency responder rescues a 'victim' from a subway train on a stretcher

Pictured: A volunteer is transported as rescue personnel evacuate 'victims' during a homeland defense emergency drill involving a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attack in an urban environment, at the New York Fire Department Training Academy on Randall's Island

Task Force 46, which was formed in 2013, practised how to carry out search and rescue efforts in a disaster situation and chemical decontaminations. They also worked on rescuing mannequins from collapsed or damaged buildings

Speaking about the training last year, Maj. Gen. Michael Stone said said: 'Speed is critical. 'This would undoubtedly be America's worst day.

'Lives saved are counted in minutes, and the capabilities that the Army brings to bear can save those lives.'

Of last week's training, Col. Chris McKinney told The New York Post: 'You've got to bring credibility and trust to the table.

'And that's something that's near and dear to our hearts with these partners.

'Should we ever have to respond — and that's why we train — we need to know what we're doing, we need to know how to plug in to support a city.'

Part of the exercise was to develop communication between the different groups, which starts with everyone speaking the same language during disasters.

Pictured: A volunteer in a gas mask is evacuated during the join exercise on Randall's Island last week, which saw the army's Task Force 46 practice with the NYPD and FDNY

Pictured: Rescue personnel evacuate 'victims' from a subway train during a homeland defense emergency drill involving a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attack in an urban environment,

Pictured: An instructor teaches rescue personnel how to extract a 'victim' from a a collapsed building in the joint exercise

'They speak Army, we speak fire department,' FDNY Battalion Chief Edward Ryan said. 'So, by training together we get to understand each other's lingo. 

'Little things, like we have what we call a FAST Team, which is firefighter assist team,' Ryan said. 'They call (it) a RIT, or rapid intervention team. Same basic idea, different terminology. So, by doing that today, I now know if I hear that.' 

Similar task force events have been undertaken by Task Force 46 in Detroit, Michigan, and other smaller events have been held in other states. However, last year the events were forced to go virtual because of Covid-19.

'This year the big win was being able to get together face-to-face and do it hands on,' said Maj. Gen. Pablo Estrada, Task Force 46 commander.