News Article Release

Naval Academy Drill Flexes Force Protection Muscle

March 22, 2012

By Jessica Clark

The Naval Academy and Naval Support Activity Annapolis completed an active shooter and hostage scenario drill March 22 in support of the Navy-wide force protection exercise Solid Curtain-Citadel Shield.

Solid Curtain is being conducted at naval installations all over the country to assess and enhance the Navy’s ability to respond to different threats. The exercise is held in coordination with U.S. Fleet Forces Command (USFF) and Commander Navy Installations Command (CNIC) to maintain a high level of force protection readiness for Navy installations.

At the Naval Academy, where military and university philosophies meet, planners looked at the tragic shootings at Fort Hood and Virginia Tech for ideas on how to best protect midshipmen, faculty and staff from similar threats, said Capt. Lang Reese, commanding officer of Naval Support Activity Annapolis.

“In Navy concentration areas like Norfolk, the primary goal of this exercise is to assess how the Navy protects the current readiness of its ships. At the Naval Academy, we’re protecting future readiness … our people,” said Reese.

The drill involved a simulated shooting and hostage situation in an academic building.

The exercise was designed to test three elements of emergency response on the academy grounds - the immediate response of faculty, staff and students; the actions of academy security personnel and their community counterparts; and the emergency communications system used to notify families, community partners and the military chain of command.

When the first “gunshots” were heard, immediate actions were taken by faculty within the building to secure classrooms and report the incident to security. Within minutes of the first report, the police were in the building, said Reese.

Reese said academy security forces communicated with Annapolis police, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and the FBI, just as they would during a real incident.

“Communications and the relationships we build in the community are key to the success of this drill. That’s what allows us to respond in real life to this kind of threat,” said Reese.

Reese led a team of representatives from around the yard in an information hub called the emergency operations center. A dynamic command and control center, this room allowed key players to watch elements of the drill on security cameras, communicate with the more than 100 drill observers stationed across the yard, and send updates up the chain of command.

With observers in every building monitoring the application of the exercise, leadership will assess the feedback and use it to strengthen the ability of the academy to keep its personnel and midshipmen safe.