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To maintain the security and welfare of the West Point community, personnel from the West Point Emergency Operations Center planned and coordinated a Full-Scale Exercise that simulated multiple hazardous threat scenarios on March 22 at the U.S. Military Academy.
The exercise prompts West Point security to take action and adequately prepare for any potential real-life threats.
For this year’s FSE, 22 personnel from federal, state and local organizations worked jointly with the WPEOC to assist in focusing their efforts on the Response and Recovery aspects of the Prevention, Protection, Mitigation, Response, Recovery (P2MR2) spectrum, George Gilbert, the Installation Emergency manager, said.
The WPEOC spent over two years planning the FSE. In addition, they conducted four smaller-scale functional exercises during that timeframe focusing on the same core principles implemented into an FSE.
“This training plan proved valuable leading up to this year’s FY22 FSE,” Gilbert explained. “We conducted numerous working groups, seminars, National Incident Management training, tabletop exercises, functional exercises and no-notice active shooter drills over the course of the last 22 months.”
Gilbert added that many contributions and rationales supported and shaped the focus of the Full-Scale Exercise.
“We considered the senior mission commander’s guidance, the garrison commander’s priorities, past after action reports, previous corrective action plans (CAP), the Multi-Year Training and Exercise Plan, higher headquarters assessments, and regulatory requirements from sources like the National Fire Protection Association and the Joint Commission,” Gilbert said. “These inputs help us see where we stand as an organization and where we need to focus our training.”
During the exercise, personnel were given the title of “controller” and were stationed in an area that requires them to take charge and respond to a potential threat.
“Every controller is trained and certified to manage real-time actions and intervene, if necessary, to stop unsafe acts,” Gilbert said. “Every precaution is taken to ensure everyone’s safety.”
Additionally, realism and immersion are critical components in ensuring the FSE is facilitated with the utmost seriousness. The WPEOC informed the community when the exercise would take place. However, They did not disclose specific times and locations in order to look closely at how security and the community, as a whole, respond to an unpredictable threat.
“We do our very best with the resources we have to make the exercise as realistic as possible. There is a lot of behind-the-scenes work and coordination that goes into developing these exercises,” Gilbert said. “...Every event is sequenced and timed to the precise minute. These exercises are designed to build confidence in leadership, equipment and training.”
Gilbert added that the WPEOC also designed the exercise to expose leadership, equipment and training gaps. Furthermore, unveiling weaknesses will allow them to produce a corrective action plan and address West Point’s security vulnerabilities.
Moreover, evaluators from various Army garrisons, including the U.S. Army Installation Management Command, assisted with the evaluation of the exercise, which lasted an unprecedented eight hours.
“Never has West Point conducted an exercise that long,” Matthew Cassidy, the West Point protection/antiterrorism officer, said. “Also, something most people don’t know is we tested the Military Police Recall system and brought MPs back in from their day off, their leave or downtime before upcoming shifts.”
The WPEOC also tested its fatality management process. During the mass casualty portion, 50 role players from multiple organizations and 16 dummies served as emergency patients at Keller Army Community Hospital. This act was crucial in terms of medical readiness, for the WPEOC had never given KACH more than 25 cases up until that point.
“We have to be prepared for the unexpected. I know one way to do that is to train and rehearse, and this gives us an opportunity to respond efficiently to any significant incident that takes place,” Brig. Gen. Mark Quander, the commandant for the Corps of Cadets, said. “I want cadets to internalize this experience. I want them to share those experiences with their peers and the rest of the community.”
Class of 2024 Cadet Dylan Lyons said watching the MP’s and negotiators interact with hypothetical shooters who held himself and his fellow cadets hostage at Thayer Hall was a thought-provoking experience.
“This is important because it reminds us how this is really possible. It can happen,” Lyons said. “The Superintendent, Lt. Gen. Daryl Williams, talked to us. He said, it can happen tonight, it can happen tomorrow. It might happen at the most inconvenient time. So, it’s important to get this training so that we remember this is a possibility at all times and to try and keep security tight.”
For Class of 2024 Cadet Tyler Harris, the exercise became immersive to the fullest degree when a hypothetical shooter nearly breached the classroom with a pistol in hand.
“I was the first one that got up and closed the door,” Harris said. “I was like, ‘I gotta do something to help my buddies out.’ I hopped up quickly, grabbed the door, pushed it closed. In these situations, you just got to react. You need to listen, learn and look for signs and make sure your buddies are OK and are engaging with you.”
As the FSE concluded, West Point organized a mock press conference reporting the results of the installation’s security efforts.
“Notionally, there were 16 fatalities and 21 injured. Of the 16 deceased, eight were cadets, four were civilian staff, and four were active-duty personnel,” Quander said during his press statement. “Of the 21 injured, 11 were transported to Keller Army Community Hospital, four were transported to Westchester Medical Hospital, and six were transported to St. Lukeʼs in Newburgh.”
He added that reports indicated there were three notional assailants. The Military Police and Special Reaction Team neutralized one of the assailants. Meanwhile, the other two perished from self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
“First and foremost, everyone is a safety sensor. Anyone involved with the exercise could have called a pause or time out if they observed an unsafe event taking place,” Cassidy concluded. “Also, we encourage everyone to send After Action Review comments and participate in an upcoming AAR that we will do in the next two weeks.”
| Date Taken: | 03.30.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 03.30.2022 10:04 |
| Story ID: | 417456 |
| Location: | WEST POINT, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 170 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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