150206-N-ZA795-042 ANNAPOLIS Md. (Feb. 6,2015) Annapolis police and Naval Support Activity Annapolis security forces arrive at the scene of a simulated active shooter at the Naval Academy during Exercise Solid Curtain-Citadel Shield 2015. Solid Curtain-Citadel Shield is an annual exercise that assesses the readiness of Navy security personnel to respond to threats located on naval installations and individual units. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Pedro A. Rodriguez/Released)By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Pedro A. Rodriguez, NDW Public Affairs
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Naval installations in the National Capital Region will participate in the United States Fleet Forces Command annual anti-terrorism/force protection exercise, Solid Curtain-Citadel Shield (SC/CS), Feb. 1-12.
SC-CS16 is a Force Protection exercise conducted by Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command (USFF) and Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC) on all Navy installations in the Continental United States to enhance the training and readiness of Navy security personnel as well as establish a learning environment for security personnel to exercise functional plans and operational capabilities.
"Our primary goal is to test our anti-terrorism and force protection capabilities at the installations throughout the region as well as our communications going up and down our chain of command," said Naval District Washington Current/Future Operations Coordinator Matt Brown.
Solid Curtain is an exercise focused on command, control, and communication (C3) between all echelons Navy wide. Citadel Shield is an installation-level training exercise to test the ability of naval security forces during an emergency.
The elevation of Force Protection Conditions (FPCONs) and increased security measures can be anticipated at all Navy installations for the duration of the exercise. While mitigations to alleviate traffic are in place, installations, and base tenant commands are encouraged to highlight the potential for base-access delays within their local communities to visitors, retirees, the workforce, Sailors and their families.
During the SC-CS16 exercise, installation personnel and the surrounding communities may see an increase in delay at installation entry control points.
Local area residents may also see increased military activity, and possible traffic/pedestrian congestion, associated with the exercise.
Brown said that his team will be looking for ways to improve the communication and bring in the experience of the local police and other agencies which work with similar situations on a daily basis.
"This is an anti-terrorism centric exercise, but we will be working together with the local police and fire, we also have some federal agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation that will be working with us especially on the soft targets because we’re looking at those issues due to what has happened in recent events," said Brown.
Training events that will be taking place include waterfront threats, personnel trying to gain unauthorized access to installations, surveillance and others.
"We have a lot of new folks, right now I think there’s going to be a lot of in-house training to bring people up to speed, one of my goals right now is to establish a baseline, so we understand what our capabilities are and where we stand at the moment training-wise," said Brown. “As we progress forward and we can put together a training plan for the future then we will we know what do we need to specifically focus on, so that what we are looking for.”
Personnel should register for the AtHoc wide area alert network if they have not already done so in order to be aware of force protection conditions and other emergency, environmental, or exercise related impacts on the area. Staggered entry and exit times for personnel working on installations should be considered in order to limit traffic at entry control points. Personnel should also familiarize themselves with their command or tenant command anti-terrorism plan to better know what to expect during the exercise.
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For more news from Naval District Washington, visit www.navy.mil/local/ndw/.
