WASHINGTON -- Naval installations within the National Capital Region will participate in the annual force protection exercise Citadel Shield-Solid Curtain 2026 (CS-SC26), scheduled for January 26th through February 6th. CS-SC26 is a core Navy exercise designed to ensure security forces are ready for various potential threats.
Naval Support Activity (NSA) Washington, NSA Bethesda, NSA Annapolis, NSA South Potomac, and Naval Air Station Patuxent River will participate in the yearly, two-part anti-terrorism and force protection exercise designed to test the effectiveness of the installations readiness and training programs.
“The primary purpose of CS-SC26 is to test our force protection and emergency personnel in order to maintain readiness,” said Rich Greene, training and assessment specialist at NDW. “The most important thing that we look at over the course of the two weeks is identifying any gaps and seeing what we can improve on moving forward for not only future exercises, but for real-life scenarios.”
Installations will participate in Citadel Shield from January 26th through January 30th. This week of training will focus on installation-level emergency response scenarios, including active shooter situations, unauthorized base access, suspicious packages, and unmanned aerial surveillance.
“The great thing about this exercise is that everyone is participating in some way or another even if they don’t have an active role,” said Greene. “If you see something happening on your base, treat it like you would a real life scenario and take this time to speak with your coworkers about how you would react in different situations.”
From February 2nd to February 6th, the exercise will transition to the Solid Curtain phase, focusing on national-level scenarios. During this week, expect daily changes to the installation's Force Protection Conditions (FPCON) as training evolutions occur. These scenarios may also lead to irregular traffic patterns or modified gate hours across installations.
“If you are going on or off of your installation during a period of heightened traffic, please be patient and wait for your security personnel to work through their problem or training scenario.” Said Greene.
Installation personnel can obtain essential notifications during CS-SC26 by registering for the Wide Area Alert Network (WAAN). To prepare for the exercise, personnel need to know what to expect by becoming familiar with their command or tenant command anti-terrorism plan.
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| Date Taken: | 01.21.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 01.21.2026 12:27 |
| Story ID: | 556465 |
| Location: | DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, US |
| Web Views: | 23 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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