Naval Air Station Fallon (NASF), in coordination with local law enforcement and emergency personnel conducted Exercise Solid Curtain/Citadel Shield 2016, Feb. 1 through Feb. 12.

Solid Curtain/Citadel Shield (SC/CS) is an annual two-part force protection exercise designed to test and train Naval Security Forces (NSF) to respond to a threat to their installation or units.

The exercise also tests communications between NSF, Emergency Operations Centers (EOC), and Regional Operations Centers (ROC).

During SC/CS 2016, security personnel on NASF responded to several realistic threat simulations, including an active shooter at the base chapel with a simultaneous knife attack at base housing, a hostage crisis with military dependents off base, and various attempts to penetrate base security.

Local law enforcement units from the Nevada Highway Patrol, Fallon Police, and Churchill Country Sherriff's Office, along with emergency medical personnel from Federal Fire, Banner Churchill Community Hospital, Humboldt General Hospital, and Care Flight assisted with the response.

"Coordinating this exercise with personnel on and off base and ensuring that all of the role players and opposing forces know their lines and places is incredibly challenging," said Installation Training Officer Chris Pierce. "One wrong line or failure to show up changes everything."

Planning for SC/CS 2016 began in the fall of last year and required extensive coordination with local emergency response units.

"We started planning this exercise in August of last year," said Installation Training Team member, Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Equipment) 1st Class Jonnie Morales. "Our biggest challenge was to maximize the training our NSFs received, with minimal impact on our daily operations while providing the best true-to-life scenarios we can. The joint efforts from NASF, local law enforcement, first responders, and all the volunteers made this a successful evolution. This exercise was one of the many ways we work with our neighbors to continue to build upon our strong relationship."

The exercises that occur during SC/CS help to improve NASF's ability to better respond to a real-world event, according to Pierce.

"We are fortunate to have a commanding officer, executive officer and support staff that encourages realistic training," said Pierce. "It allows us to test the 'moving parts' instead of simulating numerous events. Most importantly, it allows us to fix it through training so we can nail it when it counts.

"This isn't something one person can do on their own; it takes a team firing on all cylinders," said Pierce. "It is an extreme privilege to work with the best group of personnel I have ever worked with. "Without all of the support from the front office, all the way down to the role players, this would not have been possible. This is the best training team I have ever seen."

For more news from Naval Air Station Fallon, visit www.navy.mil/.