Marine Corps Air Facility Quantico conducted an active shooter exercise, here, July 30.

The purpose of the exercise was to give Marines and civilian employees an opportunity to exercise their plans and procedures in the event of an active shooter aboard the air facility.

With all of the high profile active shooter incidents that have occurred recently in mind, Jacob Smith, the mission assurance director for MCAF, planned the training to ensure all personnel were familiar with the procedures and had the opportunity to practice how they would react.

“The Marine Corps needs to take a hard stance and train our Marines, sailors, civilians and contractors in the event that it does happen on our installation so we preserve the most amount of life possible,” said Smith.

The exercise began with training sessions that gave background on active shooters and discussed some of the more prominent incidents such as the Fort Hood and Navy Yard shootings. Curtis Neal, the installation emergency manager for MCAF, who gave the trainings, also discussed different options for responding including evacuation, sheltering in place and as a last resort, fighting back.

“Do you have a plan? Have you practiced that plan?” asked Neal. “Talking is one thing, but you need some practice, because it’s going to be a really stressful situation and you really need to practice it prior to.”

Following the training sessions, Smith and Neal conducted three scenarios at separate buildings on the air facility. Smith, dressed in a dark shirt and stocking cap, played the role of the shooter, firing blanks from a small cap gun, while going from room to room, checking to see if hatches were locked.

“It happened really fast,” said Sgt. Maj. George Sanchez, sergeant major at MCAF. “[The training] was beneficial. You can probably go through this in a classroom environment, but until you see the dynamics of it, it becomes a bit different of how fast you can react.”

According to Neal, most active shooter incidents are over in fewer than 10 minutes, so acting quickly is the key to survival.

156, 157-- Jacob Smith, the mission assurance director for MCAF, acts as an active shooter during a training exercise conducted at Marine Corps Air Facility Quantico.  Conducted at several buildings at the air station, Smith went through each checking for unlocked hatches and “shooting” those behind them. The purpose of the exercise was to give Marines and civilian employees an opportunity to exercise their plans and procedures in the event of an active shooter aboard the air facility.