WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio – In a base-wide exercise next Wednesday morning, Wright-Patt, Areas A and B, will go into full lock-down in response to an Active Shooter exercise scenario. “On the 26th of February at 8:30 in the morning, we are going to initiate an Active Shooter Exercise in Area A at building 110,” said Garth Freund, 88th Air Base Wing exercise planner. “Wright-Patt Security Forces, Fire Department and Medical will respond.”
Immediate action is also expected of everyone on the installation, and all should treat the Active Shooter exercise scenario as though it is a real-world occurrence.
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Those in the immediate proximity of the Active Shooter should respond accordingly, which should be to run, hide and, as a last resort, fight. Meanwhile, both Areas A and B should go into lock-down mode or find a place of concealment and remain until the all-clear signal is given.
Wing Inspection Team members will evaluate the response to the exercise throughout the entire installation.
The Installation Command Center will issue notifications via Giant Voice and other communication modes that the entire installation, both Area A and B, is to be locked down.
Because this is an exercise, individuals should not call the 911 emergency telephone number. Emergency response agencies and dispatch centers from nearby communities, who would also respond during a real-world Active Shooter, have been notified by exercise planners. They have been told that an Active-Shooter exercise is occurring and exactly when it is to take place.
“This is an exercise; a training event,’ Freund said. “We don’t want off-base police or fire to respond to the base.”
The response phase of the exercise goes from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Most of the base will be done with the exercise at that time; however, activities will continue at the scene.
“Afterwards it turns into a recovery operation,” Freund said of what happens next. “The rest of the installation will go back to normal operations and it will only be building 110 that will be affected by the recovery part of it.”
Freund added that organizations working directly in the recovery operations, such as the Emergency Operations Center, will continue to be involved.
Active-shooter incidents can happen very quickly. Exercises and being prepared to take appropriate actions can save lives.
News of the upcoming exercise should be shared within base organizations as broadly as possible and commanders are reminded to disseminate the information to all within their units.
“We are not trying to surprise anybody,” Freund said of the importance of ensuring all are aware of the Active-Shooter exercise event.
Active-Shooter training should also be reviewed to ensure that personnel will know exactly what steps they should take should an event occur. Work centers in the area surrounding building 110 should review continuity of operations plans, or COOPs, in case there is a need to operate from an alternate location, however, COOP plan review is encouraged overall.
Some of the following effects of the exercise could include:
– Gate traffic could be backed up or rerouted to other entry control points if the gate is closed.
– Emergency response vehicles will be moving around the base.
– Travel may be congested.
– Some roadways may be temporarily blocked.
– Security measures will be increased.
– “Giant Voice” might be activated.
– Telephonic and electronic notification methods will be utilized.
– Alert sirens will be sounded
Communities surrounding the base which may hear the sirens or Giant Voice are advised that it is part of an exercise unless otherwise notified.
By Will Huntington, 88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs / Published February 21, 2020
Active shooter response is the focus of a base-wide exercise Wednesday. Wright-Patterson AFB defenders and emergency response personnel enter a base facility during a February 2015 active-shooter exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo/Wesley Farnsworth)
