HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. -- Base officials will conduct exercise scenarios here, including testing our ability to respond to an active shooter scenario as well as other emergency response events, the weeks of March 27 and April 3.
During these weeks, personnel should anticipate disruptions to daily activities. In the situations described above, according to officials from the Hanscom Inspector General office, all base personnel will have responses to take as a result of the events. Because of this, while officials will try to limit impact to customer service functions, some may be affected. In addition, there could be traffic delays entering, exiting or on the installation.
“These exercises represent the installation’s ability to respond to emergency scenarios where we take lessons learned from previous exercises and ensure that we have taken heed of the lessons learned to improve our communication and actions,” said Maj. Pierre LaPlume, director of Wing Inspections here. “The goal is always to execute what units already practice individually, but as an integrated team.”
Base officials are emphasizing safety to all involved, and if any real-world emergency takes place, they will stop the exercise immediately.
Wing Inspection Team members will monitor all scenarios and will be identifiable by blue vests.
“If a member of Team Hanscom sees something that he or she believes to be unsafe, they should report it to a WIT member immediately,” LaPlume said, adding that all WIT members have the ability to stop an event when safety is compromised.
If required as part of a scenario, personnel should dial 911 from a landline, or cellular device if available, and should preface the call with “EXERCISE EXERCISE EXERCISE.”
LaPlume said exercises such as these let inspectors see where strengths exist and where improvements need to be made as organizers work to make the exercise program more robust.
For questions or concerns prior to the exercise, base personnel should contact Hanscom’s Inspector General Office at 66.ABG.IG.Workflow@us.af.mil.