Active shooter exercise keeps Team Holloman ready

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Sondra Escutia
  • 49th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  A major exercise March 11 sent the sounds of blank rounds ringing throughout the Domenici Fitness and Sports Center only minutes before Holloman defenders arrived on the scene of a simulated active gunman situation.

As the 49th Security Forces Squadron patrolmen were clearing the building, in search of the suspects, a Quick Reaction Force stood up and was en route to assist their fellow defenders, who had already taken down one of two simulated gunmen.

An Installation Control Center and Emergency Operations Center stood up to maintain command and control of the situation and the base security level was elevated to one of its highest conditions.

"The whole time it was exhilarating," said Airman Pedro Escobar, a member of the four-man 49th SFS team who initially responded to the exercise inject. "We tried clearing out every room as quickly as possible, tried to limit the number of casualties and tried to assess the situation as quickly as possible so we could get everybody out safely."

The situation was part of an antiterrorism exercise, Coronet Gold Rush 10-02, designed to test Holloman's ability to deal with an active shooter scenario on the installation. The 49th Fighter Wing Plans and Inspection office coordinated the exercise and evaluated how well Team Holloman is prepared to handle a situation like this.

"You can't guard against that type of scenario from happening completely ... the idea is how fast can you stop it and protect the public, and I think we did a pretty good job of that," said Wayne Paddock, 49th FW/XP exercise evaluation team chief.

After observing the 49th SFS members perform in the unprecedented exercise, one EET member said the first responders exceeded his expectations.

"Today's exercise was basically [to show the 49th SFS] how to go ahead ... and handle that situation. For us, it's something that's new. For law enforcement nationwide, it's something that's only come about in the last few years as a major problem," said Tech. Sgt. Michael Muldoon, 49th SFS EET member. "Today was better than I thought it would be ... this was actually our first time pulling a major exercise of this type."

And the 49th SFS were not the only ones called upon to put their skills to use. A piece of the overall inject called for a 1,000 foot cordon around the fitness center when the defenders noticed a simulated explosive device in the back of a truck parked, seemingly innocent, in front of the facility.

"If you get completely focused on just the shooters themselves and you lose your situational awareness, it's very easy to overlook something like that, and in the end, the shooters get you," Mr. Paddock said about the booby-trapped vehicle.

While the security forces team removed the casualties from the fitness center, the 49th Civil Engineer Squadron explosive ordnance disposal team was called to assess and neutralize the device, and did so with the use of an ANDROS F6A robot from a safe distance away.

"Our team did an outstanding job," said David Hollinsworth, EOD training manager. "They prevented unnecessary loss of life and property damage, all remotely and safely. These exercises are good for everyone, it gets the base operating as a team."

Although this was the first exercise of its kind and caliber at Holloman, Mr. Paddock said it will not be the last.

"The (Department of Defense) and the government are very concerned about the preparedness to deal with these types of situations," said Mr. Paddock. "Even if it isn't a full base-wide exercise, I expect we'll probably go out a couple more times this year and exercise our prepardness."