SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- Current terrorism and active shooter events dominate news headlines worldwide on a daily basis.
To prepare and test the response efforts of Airmen in dangerous situations, the 4th Security Forces Squadron conducted a planned active shooter exercise the morning of Jan. 11.
In the beginning stages of the exercise, there was an initial communication error. The word “exercise” was not present in one of the official notification messages, leading some to believe there was an actual active shooter on the installation. Additional messaging was promptly disseminated to correct the information.
“This exercise did exactly what it should do,” Maj. William Roedl, 4th Fighter Wing Inspector General director of inspections said. “It identified weaknesses we can improve upon. Fortunately, we had the opportunity to identify and correct these processes during a controlled exercise situation.”
These realistic exercises keep Airmen in a warrior mindset and sharpen tactics, techniques and procedures to prevent the unnecessary loss of life and injuries in the event of a real-world incident.
According to Roedl, the desired learning objectives of the exercise were successfully met. Defenders of the 4th Security Forces Squadron immediately responded to the exercise location and followed established procedures to neutralize the simulated “active shooter” threat. Additionally, members in the building and across the installation, had the opportunity to exercise actions to lock down their working areas.
“Our Airmen prepare for the future, train for the worst and hope for the best,” Roedl said. “This training will continue to happen and strengthen our Airmen’s response performance.”