NAS Pensacola Participates in Annual Force Protection Exercise
05 February 2025
PENSACOLA, Fla. - Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola service members and civilian employees conducted an active shooter and hostage training exercise Feb. 4 at the Fleet and Family Support Center (FFSC) onboard the installation.
The exercise was part of Citadel Shield-Solid Curtain 2025 (CS-SC25), an annual, two-part force protection Commander, Naval Installations Command (CNIC) and U.S. Fleet Forces Command (USFFC)-led exercise that is taking place Feb. 3 through 14 at all continental U.S. Navy installations.
CS-SC25 is designed to enhance the training and readiness of Navy security personnel and better prepare Department of the Navy (DoN) personnel for potential force protection situations.
"Our security personnel operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year," said NAS Pensacola Installation Training Officer Erich Brinkmeir. "Although this exercise is not held in response to any specific threat, it's important that we train for a variety of realistic threats to enhance our personnel and force-wide readiness."
Brinkmeir said that the exercise stress-tests NAS Pensacola's ability to disseminate information and put into action individual response plans and security force responses while testing their ability to coordinate with local emergency responders and the community.
"We’re committed to safeguarding life, equipment and facilities, and training like this helps us do that,” he said.
Brinkmeier said scenarios during Citadel Shield – the first week of the exercise, led by CNIC – included the active shooter drill and hostage scenario, which members of the NAS Pensacola Anti-Terrorism Training Team (ATTT) used to gauge readiness from responding NAS Pensacola Naval Security Forces personnel.
“Making sure that all of the different entities on base are aligned can help our Naval Security Forces personnel more effectively do their job,” he said. “Communication during any event is critical in ensuring the safety of our most valuable assets – the men and women here – which is crucial to our ongoing mission of supporting the commands which train the best aviators, aircrewman, aviation maintenance personnel and cyber warfare specialists in the world.”
The second week of the annual Navy-wide exercise – Solid Curtain, led by USFFC – is centered around NAS Pensacola’s capability of exercising Navy Command and Control (C2) capabilities and evaluating the readiness and effectiveness of fleet and installation force protection programs.
The two-part approach is designed to enhance the readiness of U.S. Navy security forces and ensure seamless interoperability among the commands, other services and agency partners in order to protect life, equipment and facilities.
NAS Pensacola, referred to as the "Cradle of Naval Aviation," is designed to support operational and training missions of tenant commands, including Naval Air Technical Training Center (NATTC), Naval Aviation Schools Command (NASC), the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training (CNATT), Marine Aviation Training Support Groups (MATSG) 21 and 23 and is the headquarters for Naval Education and Training Command (NETC).