Worst-case scenario: Unit prepares for active shooters

Photo By Terrance Bell | Members of a Fort Lee Police Department quick reaction force proceed down a hallway, looking for an active shooter suspect during the initial stages of an active shooter exercise Jan. 15. The 59th Ordnance Brigade sponsored the exercise.  

FORT LEE, VA, UNITED STATES

01.22.2015

Story by Terrance Bell  

Fort Gregg-Adams

FORT LEE, Va. - “He was let go (from his job) and apparently decided to seek revenge with the government. So, he came into one of our training buildings and proceeded to shoot several people on one of the floors,” said Warren Gotthardt, security manager, 59th Ordnance Brigade.

If that fictional brief is familiar, it speaks about the growing concern active shooter events have garnered across the nation and strategies to better deal with them.

Preparations for such an event were played out during a scenario-based training exercise at Miley Hall Jan. 15. In it, 59th Ord. Bde. Soldiers and civilians along with Fort Lee Fire and Emergency Services personnel became more familiar with the brigade’s response plan to such an incident, said Col. Jeff Carter, brigade commander.

“It was a very good exercise and a very important exercise; something we’ve been planning since August,” he said, offering observations afterward. “We have such a large concentration of Soldiers in these buildings that if something like this did happen, you could see the kind of effects it could have, so planning for something like this is really important.”

Miley Hall is one of several cavernous training facilities located on the Ordnance Campus. More than 3,000 students train in the buildings located north of Fort Lee’s main post on any given day.

An active shooter event involves an individual engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

One hundred and sixty active shooter incidents occurred in the United States between 2000-2013, resulting in 486 deaths and 577 people wounded, according to the FBI. In 2012-13 alone, 134 people were killed. The probability is still remote based on the numbers, said Carter, “but it could happen,” he said. “We’ve just got be prepared.”

To train for such an event, a common scenario was employed, not related to any one particular incident, said Gotthardt, but based on “real-world events that have occurred across the country.”

During the actual exercise, the building’s occupants were instructed to “shelter in place after the initial shots were heard,” meaning they were to hide out and barricade themselves inside the safest areas of their workplaces, said Gotthardt.

Meanwhile, members of the Fort Lee Police Department’s quick response team showed up at the scene in minutes and proceeded to enter and clear the facility, subdue the shooter and look for any accomplices.

“Once that was done, EMS came in and identified casualties and set up triage areas within the building,” said Gotthardt.

The exercise concluded with the evacuation of casualties.

Members of the 23rd Quartermaster Brigade were on hand to provide external observation and evaluation. The Fort Lee FES and the Provost Marshal Office also conducted evaluations.

“What we’ll do is incorporate their comments into an after action review, and based on what we see, we’ll be able to make necessary corrections,” said Gotthardt. “I would look forward to having another one of these exercises within the year.”

Active shooter plans and training are mandatory for all Fort Lee units and activities.

• Date Taken: 01.22.2015
• Date Posted: 01.22.2015 14:44
• Story ID: 152487
• Location: FORT LEE, VA, US