Active shooter exercise conducted at Kirtland

  • Published
  • By Marie Vanover
  • 377 Air Base Wing Public Affairs
Kirtland Air Force Base, NM --  The 377th Security Forces Squadron, along with more than 50 Team Kirtland volunteers, participated in an active shooter exercise here recently.

The exercise was an opportunity to test and prepare first responders for real world contingencies. The exercise was monitored by exercise evaluators who provided constructive feedback to participants with the goal of assessing and improving emergency response techniques.

Volunteers played the part of teachers, students and concerned parents to provide as much realism to the exercise as possible.

Planning for the exercise started almost six weeks ago and included coordination with different agencies, to include Sandia Elementary, which was the location of the exercise. The exercise planners wanted to ensure the scenario was as realistic as possible.

Moulage of exercise victims started at 5 a.m., three hours before the actual start of the exercise. Once the exercise kicked off, things moved rapidly to terminate the threat, secure the scene and ensure the safety of the exercise participants.

"This is a great opportunity to develop our response skills and ensure we are ready," said Senior Master Sgt. Anthony Biafore, Air Provost Superintendent, 377th Security Forces Squadron.

Besides security forces personnel, medical first responders also played an active role in the exercise.

This was the first active shooter exercise conducted on Kirtland and was primarily aimed at testing response capabilities of security forces and medical first responders.

"Our goal is to expand the exercise to include all units at Kirtland," said Lt. Col. Jason Beers, 377th Security Forces Squadron commander.

"Defenders of the Force," is the motto security forces defenders train for and live by in their day-to-day operations.

"This was just one way to ensure security forces is ready and able to respond to any emergency contingency," said Sgt. Biafore. "The exercise gave us a foundation to build from and improve our response procedures for different situations," he added.