By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Molly Greendeer
Naval Station Norfolk Public Affairs
NORFOLK, Va. - Naval Station Norfolk participated in Exercise Citadel Shield 2013, in Norfolk Feb. 27-28.
A regularly scheduled exercise, Citadel Shield is the largest force protection and anti-terrorism exercise conducted Navy wide by Commander, Navy Installations Command and is not in response to any specific threat.
NSN Installation Training Officer Russ Wyckoff said the exercise was designed to test and train the installation's ability to prevent, detect and defend against an act of terrorism.
"This exercise provided a great opportunity to test multiple security measures that have been pre-planned," said Wyckoff. "Some of these security measures are only used once a year or maybe not ever. So we get this chance to see if these measures are still effective, and it is great training for all hands on and off the installation."
The exercise consisted of several mini-drills that tested primary mission capabilities such as fire and emergency services, safety, security and the computer network alert system.
Simulated scenarios included pre-planned responses to a vehicle carrying an explosive device penetrating the base. The explosive device exploded outside of one of the buildings on base invoking security, the City of Norfolk Bomb Squad, medical and firefighters from both NSN and Norfolk Fire-Rescue to respond to a mass casualty.
The scenario included a simulated explosion and building collapse. NSN and the Norfolk city fire and rescue were called to the scene to cut into the side of the building to retrieve trapped victims.
Navy Region Mid-Atlantic Assistant Fire Chief George Ridgwell said the training exercise was a way for NSN and Norfolk city firefighters to work together before an actual emergency and was a great learning experience for all involved.
“We all have the same training and the same equipment, but not everyone uses it the same way,” said Ridgwell. “Not only to do we learn different techniques we may have not known before, but we learn to work as a team, as one solid unit.”
The simulations and exercises are designed to train responders to react to a real-world threat, said Capt. David A. Culler Jr., commanding officer, NSN.
"NSN sailors and trained civilian professionals take our mission very seriously,” said Culler. “We can truly never know what to expect in the event of a terrorist attack, but we take lessons learned from training exercises like CS, and continue to enhance the security of the base.”
| Date Taken: | 02.28.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 02.28.2013 14:43 |
| Story ID: | 102710 |
| Location: | NAVAL STATION NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 106 |
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