Wright-Patterson Air Force Base will conduct its first quarterly exercises next week.
The base will conduct the exercises from Monday to Friday. Included in the week’s events is a natural disaster exercise, with severe weather response and sheltering.
The exercises come six months after a botched exercise on base led to the false report of an active shooter at the base hospital. A report — released in late December — about the false active shooter incident detailed how an uncoordinated response from law enforcement could have resulted in “serious injury and property damage.”
During this portion of the exercise, as well as other times throughout the week, alert sirens could be sounded and may be audible in areas adjacent to the base. Residents in the surrounding communities are reminded that those alarms are only a part of the exercise, unless informed otherwise by base officials.
During the exercise, loudspeaker announcements might be heard. Gate traffic could be backed up or rerouted, and some roadways could be temporarily blocked. Travel may also be congested.
Emergency response vehicles will be seen and heard around the base, and security measures could be increased. Installation Inspection Team members, easily identifiable by the bright-yellow reflective vests that each wears, will evaluate the response to the exercise events throughout the week.
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© 2019 the Journal-News (Hamilton, Ohio)
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