Marauders exercise active-shooter scenario

Published July 25, 2012
By Staff Sgt. Alexandra M. Boutte
386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Armed with blue plastic guns, two simulated gunmen initiated an active-shooter exercise by entering a fitness center and laundry facility to practice responding to a shooting spree here July 23.

Active shooter exercises are an effort throughout Air Forces Central's area of responsibility to synchronize and integrate the Combined Forces Air Component Commander priority of "defend the base." Exercises such as this one maintain awareness and increase response time to various scenarios.

"It has become more important for us to participate in active-shooter exercises, as this is a real threat, and an extremely tough scenario to defend against," said Col. Mark Polomsky, 386th Air Expeditionary Wing vice commander. "The difficulty of such a scenario really lies in the fact that different agencies need to quickly and accurately work together and communicate effectively to protect our base, and our most vital resource, our people."

Within moments security forces members responded and prepared to enter the laundry facility. Their normal duty weapons exchanged for red plastic training guns.

"We proceeded to bound from our vehicle to the facility," said Tech. Sgt. Stephen Cotta, 386th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron assistant flight chief and first responder. "Once we got to the trailer, we made entry and noticed two injured victims and two active-shooters hiding. My partner and I challenged both shooters and fired."

Security forces train to be precise when engaging targets so victims are not injured further, Cotta explained.

"We do not want anyone getting into a situation like this and run in hot-headed," Cotta said.

The exercise triggered a base-wide lockdown using a variety of notification systems. Airmen took the necessary precautions to minimize the potential for wide-spread casualties.

"I reviewed the procedures pertaining to active-shooter scenarios earlier last week," said Staff Sgt. Kyle Irish, 386th Expeditionary Comptroller Squadron finance customer service technician. "When I heard the giant voice [loudspeaker system], I executed those procedures."

Those procedures depend on an Airman's location during the time of the incident. Airmen are to deny the shooter access to themselves by barricading themselves from them, evacuating the immediate area or, as a last resort, fighting.

It was over as quickly as it began, with the aggressors neutralized and the victims being treated.

"The security forces members had great hustle today," said Master Sgt. Timothy Gatherum, 386th ESFS, exercise evaluation team member. "They recognized the threat and, knowing there were casualties in the affected area, manually removed the injured to a safe area. It was really good on our Airmen to recognize the danger and think on their feet."

Although the engagement piece of the exercise was over, a lot of training remained - dealing with the aftermath of unexpected violence.

First responders moved in to assess the injuries and begin lifesaving operations on the simulated victims.

"If we had a real-world active-shooter, self aid buddy care would save lives," said Staff Sgt. Shila Bonin, 386th Expeditionary Medical Group. "Security Forces is going to be the first agency on base to respond, so they are the first to administer life-saving actions."

Self aid buddy care is important training all Airmen receive because, in a time of need, it is important to have an understanding of what actions to take in order to save a life, Bonin added.

"This especially applies in a deployed location because you never know what could happen today or tomorrow or who is going to be around to help," she explained.

The exercise continued throughout the early morning hours as senior leaders coordinated the many actions needed to assess and respond to the needs of the Marauder team.

After the exercise concluded, leaders from each group and squadron analyzed the events and processes and discussed follow-up actions and lessons learned.

The efforts of the planners and participants in this active-shooter exercise provided practical and realistic training.

"The Airmen who are deployed here are very mission focused - very ready to do their job," said Lt. Col. Joseph Granducci, 386th Air Expeditionary Wing inspection general. "We were already leaning forward, chomping the bit and moving toward the gate. Once the gate was opened, the Airmen were all over it. I was impressed with the great attitude I saw out there."

Polomsky agreed that the wing did exceptional during the exercise.
"We played this scenario hard and our actions showed that the team was ready to go," Polomsky said. "Communication was outstanding at all levels, and it was an extremely valuable learning event; that said, there was a lot of learning going on, and we can always take those lessons and do even better next time. All in all, the teamwork and the response to this event were outstanding."