NNSY participates in Solid Curtain-Citadel Shield 2016

NNSY Participates in Solid Curtain-Citadel Shield 2016 STORY BY ANNA TAYLOR • PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPECIALIST PHOTOS BY LUKE BEASLEY • NNSY PHOTOGRAPHER Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) held an active shooter exercise in Bldg. 171 Feb. 3 as part of Solid Curtain-Citadel Shield (SC-CS) 2016, a force protection exercise conducted by Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command (USFF) and Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC) on all CONUS Navy installations.

SC-CS is the planned annual Anti-Terrorism (AT) capstone exercise not designed in response to any specific threat. NNSY participates to ensure employees and first responders are ready to act when confronted by changing and dynamic threats.

Byron “Reggie” Thompson, Mechanical Group (Code 930) Superintendent, brought up the need for a drill within his department 16 • SERVICE TO THE FLEET • MARCH 2016

after an off-yard incident occurred during the summer of 2015.

“When I looked at all of the things that happen in the world, I felt a burden to ensure I’ve done everything to protect the people who work for me. I am responsible for all those people,” he explained. “It bothered me that we had these production employees who haven’t had the same level of training that those outside the industrial area have had. So it was all about trying to increase their awareness of what to do in an active shooter scenario. I wanted the folks in our building to be prepared.”

Naval Support Activity (NSA)-NNSY typically facilitates active shooter drills at least two or three times a year at various levels of

intensity, but for SC-CS, the shipyard simulated an active shooter scenario inside the Controlled Industrial Area (CIA) for the first time. In the past, safety concerns and production deadlines have prevented the planning and execution of AT exercises inside the CIA, but with approval from Shipyard Commander, Capt. Scott Brown, and comprehensive oversight of the Installation Training Team (ITT), the exercise in Bldg. 171 was given a green light.

James “Doc” Payne, NSA-NNSY’s Installation Training Officer from the Base Support Office (Code 800), helped facilitate the exercise and made sure the multiple stakeholders were adequately prepared ahead of time. He and the Installation Emergency Manager (Steve Murley) conducted multiple “Active Shooter in the Work Place” briefs to nearly 850 Code 930 employees and worked closely with them to update the building’s Emergency Action Plan (EAP).

“We found a lot of holes in our EAP, so we had to dust it off and revisit it,” said Thompson of the briefs. “We made some changes, and ran smaller fire drills to see how our people could perform in basic evacuation.”

Thompson initially hoped to hold the drill in the fall of 2015, but because large-scale exercises require so much pre-planning and collaboration, early 2016 was the most opportune time.

Payne said the biggest challenge when planning the exercise within the CIA was integrating with outside city resources, such as police and fire departments, Emergency Medical Services and emergency management. “We had to isolate the building from normal shipyard operations because production work must continue unimpeded, so we essentially had to make Bldg. 171 an island,” he explained.

During the entire exercise, ITT safety observers were present to enforce a safe-to-train environment; keep unauthorized people out of the training area; and make sure role players, first responders and building participants had the opportunity to exercise their actions in

an active shooter scenario.

Every building in the shipyard should have an EAP, and Payne urges everyone to have situational awareness for the potential of danger at work and at home. “An active shooter doesn’t necessarily mean that a foreign terrorist is actively on the base, it could be a Homegrown Violent Extremist (HVE) or a disgruntled employee who triggers an attack,” he said. “It doesn’t even have to be a firearm; it can be a knife, a baseball bat, or another tool. So in reality, it’s not an active shooter but an active killer. And with all of the real-world related events happening in our country, these types of drills become even more serious and personal.”

Payne wants to make sure the workforce knows how to respond in case something ever happens at NNSY, and a key objective is communicating to the population during emergency events. Every person on base is required to add their work phone and email to the Wide Area Alert Network (WAAN), which includes the Giant Voice system, NMCI desk-top pop-ups, text alerts, email alerts and phone alerts. Another key objective involves realistic training and challenging of the shipyard’s first responders. “Our responders have pre-planned responses, tactics, techniques, and procedures for almost every emergency situation,” he said. “When we challenge them with a facility the size and scope of Bldg. 171, we put them at a disadvantage because they are not intimately familiar with every structure. We’ve got a lot of young officers on our police force, so we want to challenge them. It’s all about life safety; saving lives and educating the workforce to apply these skills if needed, on base or at home.”

For Thompson, observing the drill was a stark reminder of how easily something could happen at the shipyard. “Just standing there watching, knowing the shooter was in my office with my staff, my people, it was an emotional moment,” he said. “This is real. This could happen. It was overwhelming.”

Top left: Role player MA1 Maurice Leverett crouches as first responders arrive on scene. Above: MA2 Sarah Morris advances on the role player's location.

Bottom left: Capt. Paul Amodio, Base Support Officer (Code 800) and Shipyard Commander Capt. Scott Brown observe the exercise.

MARCH 2016 • SERVICE TO THE FLEET • 17