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Maxwell-Gunter June exercise a success

  • Published
  • By Carl Bergquist
  • Air University Public Affairs
MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. --  Scenarios for the June Maxwell-Gunter exercise included a major accident response exercise, an active-shooter, mass casualties, flight-line protection and a force protection condition change, and the base's Exercise Evaluation Team chief said he was pleased by the response of base members involved in the exercise.

"The purpose of this exercise was to test the base populace and make them aware of the recent trend of active shooters on high school and college campuses," Gary Looney said. "We also wanted to be sure this installation could react appropriately to such a possibility."

The exercise shooter scenario, held at Officer Training School, involved a retired military spouse who was distraught about his financial situation, mediocre career and his suspicion that his wife was involved with an OTS student. He went to OTS to seek revenge and opened fire on people at the school's complex, killing 12 students, a bystander and himself.

"Our first response security forces did very well in responding to the exercise incident at Officer Training School," Mr. Looney said. "However, like all exercises, there are some things that need work. The follow-up actions, after the threat has been eliminated, have some areas that need
improvement."

He said the active-shooter created other exercise scenarios, such as mass casualties and notifying next of kin, and those issues further tested the base's ability to handle real-work situations should they arise.

An elevation of the base FPCON to Bravo was the result of information received from the FBI, and Mr. Looney said that segment also went "fairly well." He said it gave the base an opportunity to check specific items involving Force Protection Condition Bravo.

Mr. Looney said that while the final grade for the June exercise has not yet been determined, overall, he felt base members did a good job with challenges presented to them.

"The response to the flight-line penetration, for example, was executed perfectly," he said. "Security forces had a good day and did their job right."