On Tuesday and Wednesday, Columbus Air Force Base will conduct a large-scale exercise that will impact most areas of the base. As a courtesy, wing leaders wanted to inform suppliers, retirees and local residents that have access to the base for patience and vigilance during the exercise period.
During this exercise, a gunman will simulate the random shooting of over a dozen people on base and is designed to measure how the base reacts, responds and recover during a shooting.
“This exercise will further prepare the base to handle a random shooting with a large number of casualties,” said Lt. Col. Art Dunn, chief of the Exercise Evaluation Team for CAFB.
Also during the initial phase, all of the base gates will be closed for a lengthy period sometime between 9 a.m. and noon on Tuesday. There will be no routine medical appointments available during the exercise. Personnel and Chapel functions will only be available for emergencies.
This large scale exercise allows Columbus AFB to interact with most local and regional emergency responders and find the areas needing improvement.
“This exercise will allow us to evaluate many of our letters of agreements and memorandums of understanding with local supporting agencies,” Dunn said. “It will be advantageous to all of us to measure our capabilities and improve our practices during crisis events.”
Base officials advise to avoid routine business on the base on Tuesday and Wednesday.
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