Base security forces train for the worst

Published March 26, 2010
By Josh Aycock
88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- With the simple two word instruction of "On Me," Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey Jones, 88th Security Forces Squadron, went from being a searcher to point man, and three other members making up the diamond formation snapped left, each encountering new roles and responsibilities within the team structure.

This was just one of the many maneuvers and scenarios members of the 88 SFS practiced during their active shooter training March 25 at Central State University as they worked side-by-side with the Ohio State Patrol's Special Response Team.

The morning started with the 25 security forces Airmen receiving detailed instruction from the OSP and SFS instructors on everything from stairwell clearing to moving as a team in a diamond formation down a hallway.

"Going into this type of situation, we take each element and break it down into pieces and build upon those," said Staff Sgt. Daniel Davis, 88 SFS unit training instructor. "Every person, regardless of rank, has to know and practice their responsibilities because you can't teach this stuff on a slideshow."

Working inside a three-story abandoned building with more than 100 rooms and filled with remnants of previously working classrooms, the scene became real.

"There are a lot of multi-layered buildings on base, so this is a very realistic environment," said Staff Sgt. Matthew Vanderhorst, 88 SFS unit training instructor. "It makes me confident that if anything were to happen anywhere on base, we would be prepared."

Yells of distress rang throughout the hallways after the initial morning training.

The group was then split into teams of four and charged with taking out the active shooter, a person who has used deadly force and is continuing to do so.

During the high-intensity scenarios, the teams were armed with their personally issued M-4 and M-9 weapons modified with simunition kits, allowing them to both fire and be fired at by the shooter.

"The sim round really teaches you that 'I'm getting shot at but I've still got a job to do,'" said Senior Airman Thomas Hawthorne, 88 SFS, wearing two paint marks on his safety vest where he had been hit after his first time through the building. "Training like this helps us kind of build up an armor around ourselves so that in real-world experiences we feel confident."

The teams spent the rest of the day rotating in and out of the building facing different scenarios. The instructors continuously changed the number of shooters, the floor they were on, and victims' lives they had taken to provide realistic training environments.

"I feel 100 percent confident that if they responded to this type of situation today on base they would be 10 times more prepared than they were last week," said Sergeant Davis.