Naval Support Activity (NSA) Annapolis teamed up with the city of Annapolis, Maryland, and the county of Anne Arundel to conduct an active-shooter exercise as part of the annual exercise Solid Curtain-Citadel Shield (SC-CS) 2016, Feb. 5.

"Exercises like this are important for our first responders," said City of Annapolis Mayor Michael Pantelides. "While the Annapolis Fire Department/EMS, the Annapolis Police Department and Office of Emergency Management work closely with the United States Naval Academy and Naval Support Activity Annapolis on a daily basis, this exercise reinforces training and improves familiarity between the various responders."

SC-CS 16 is a force protection exercise conducted by Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command (USFF) and Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC) on all Navy installations in the Continental United States to enhance the training and readiness of Navy security personnel as well as establish a learning environment for security personnel to exercise functional plans and operational capabilities.

"This exercise is a critical component of our training program," said NSA Annapolis Commanding Officer Capt. Logan Jones. "It allows us to validate and refine training we have conducted to date, and it allows us to integrate security operations with NCIS; police from local jurisdictions; local, city, and county fire departments; and the Anne Arundel Medical Center."

The scenario consisted of multiple "active shooters" at the Brigade Sports Complex, where first responders from NSA Annapolis, Anne Arundel county and Annapolis City worked together to neutralize the shooters and help the simulated casualties on the scene.

"We try to pick a different site each year when we conduct this large drill in order to give our law enforcement officers - and the responding police officers from nearby jurisdictions - an opportunity to expand their familiarity with our various facilities," said Jones.

As an annual exercise, SC-CS allows military and civilian responders alike to hone emergency skills as threats evolve, but in a safe environment, much like any other military evolution.

Jones explained conducting the drill this year in a building that was not part of the United States Naval Academy academic complex allowed the participants to spend a little more time "in scenario" without unduly impacting midshipmen's academic schedules.

Jones emphasized the exercise helps to practice military forces' interoperability with local first responders in the case an active-shooter emergency would happen on his installation.

"For several years we have been fortunate to exercise in partnership with the Annapolis City Police," said Jones. "This year, we were pleased to exercise with the Anne Arundel County Police too. Both departments were fantastic."

Exercise SC-CS 16 is the largest force protection exercise across the Department of Defense and consists of roughly 130 simultaneous field-training exercise attacks across the country.

SC-CS is not in response to any specific threat, but is a regularly scheduled exercise.

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