Naval Support Activity (NSA) Annapolis and U.S. Naval Academy teamed up with the state of Maryland, Anne Arundel County, and the City of Annapolis to conduct an active-shooter exercise as part of the annual exercise Solid Curtain-Citadel Shield (SC-CS) 2017, Feb. 8.

SC-CS 17 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.

"We do this to make sure we're prepared for whatever might come," said Phil Card, NSA Annapolis operations manager. "It doesn't matter whether it's an active shooter, improvised explosive, or whatever the bad guys send our way."

The 2017 scenario consisted of "active shooters" at the U.S. Naval Academy's Bancroft Hall. 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.

Each year different scenarios are selected in order to give law enforcement officers and the responding police officers from nearby jurisdictions an opportunity to expand their familiarity with the various facilities on the Annapolis Area Complex which includes the Naval Academy and Naval Support Activity Annapolis.

"This exercise not only increases our security experience, but it is broadening our community-partner relationship with the local authorities," said Joe Glennon, NSA Annapolis command training officer. "It's important because that's who we're actually going to rely on if anything was ever to happen here."

SC-CS allows military and civilian responders alike to hone emergency skills as threats evolve. SC-CS is not in response to any specific threat, but is a regularly scheduled exercise.

Exercise SC-CS 17 is the largest force protection exercise across the Department of Defense and consists of roughly 130 simultaneous field-training exercise attacks across the country.

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