Joint Base Anacostia Bolling (JBAB) conducted an active attacker exercise as part of its participation in Citadel Shield-Solid Curtain (CS-SC) 2018, Feb. 1.

Citadel Shield-Solid Curtain is an annual anti-terrorism and force protection exercise conducted by Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command and Commander, Navy Installations Command on all Naval installations within the continental United States. The exercise is designed to enhance the readiness of Navy security personnel and establish best practices during actual emergencies.

"Over the past few years, the active attacker is the primary threat we have been exposed to domestically and overseas," said Jeffrey Elwood, installation training officer on JBAB. "Running these types of exercises allow for the command to assess its first responders on their response to this type of threat. This puts our forces in a position to make tactical assessments and effectively mitigate an active threat to our command."

The focus of the exercise began at an entry control point and ended at a family housing building.

"This was a tiered exercise where the 'bad guy' first showed up at the south gate," said Natalia Koroleva, environmental representative for the JBAB installation training team. "They tested their procedures there and then 'the bad guy' came down to attack someone in the housing area. We're looking for response time, which is really important, especially trying to work with so many different players. We have a lot of different groups that might respond if this situation were to actually occur, so it's important to figure out how to operate in that scenario."

Elwood has participated in several (CS-SC) exercises, both as a civilian and active-duty service member. He now uses his familiarity with exercises to make sure his command is prepared in the event of a worst-case scenario.

"During my last active-duty tour overseas, I was fortunate enough to work as an instructor and evaluator with some of the best subject matter experts from the NCIS Security Training Assistance and Assessment Team," said Elwood. "I gained a wealth of experience on how these exercises are run and how they impact sea and shore-based Navy environments. Now I apply those experiences here at JBAB to improve our response efforts as a whole, so that we are ready for the real thing when, not if, it happens."

Elwood says the exercise went well and is appreciative of the efforts of those who participated.

"I am blessed to have a great training team composition here at JBAB and our leadership is very supportive of our efforts," said Elwood. "Our tenants, mission and community partners are a great resource and help in executing these events. We would not be able to conduct these events effectively
without their assistance and support."

For more information on events happening in JBAB, visit www.facebook/com/JBAB.

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