Kadena emergency responders tested in active shooter exercise

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Maeson L. Elleman
  • 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --  The 18th Wing held an active shooter exercise at the base legal office this morning to test Kadena's emergency responders.

The scenario focused on the participants' ability to react to the shooter, neutralize the threat and treat the wounded rapidly in a high-stress situation.

"There's always room for improvement, but overall I feel like they did well, and they accomplished the mission, which was to eliminate the threat and provide safety to all the bystanders," said Tech. Sgt. Joseph White, 18th Security Forces Squadron Wing Inspection Team member.

Moments before the would-be gunman entered the building, it was business as usual - paralegals and lawyers were assisting clients as they would any other day, and the clear, warm weather outside set a mood that betrayed the events that would soon unfold.

Meanwhile, a moulage team was preparing a few simulated victims, complete with fake blood, clay gunshot wounds, and makeup cuts and bruises in order to add even more realism to the event.

This exercise added an additional element to the mix to shake things up: simulated ammunition with painted tips.

According to White, breaking away from normalcy is all part of the plan.

"Any real-world incident is going to be different from the last one, so we like to come up with different kinds of scenarios," White said. "I feel like this was a great training opportunity because this was the first time Wing Safety approved the use of simunition for a wing-level exercise, so I feel like our responding members got a real, accurate assessment of what it's like responding to an active shooter."

Alongside his fellow WIT members, it's White's job to monitor the responders in each of the scenarios and provide training based on their performances.

A Security Forces Airman since 2007, White has encountered countless exercises and innumerable lessons along the way, especially since joining WIT.

However, according to him, it wouldn't matter how long someone's been in or how much experience they have; there's always something new to learn.

"There's always a moment of learning," White said. "No one ever truly knows everything, so this has been a great learning experience for me as well. It's fun, and it's exciting to come up with the exercises, see the planning and then, once the exercises actually go into play, to see the execution of the exercise."

Capt. Heather Houseal, assistance judge advocate at the base legal office, was an unexpected participant during the exercise.

When the faux gunman entered the building, Houseal said she was assisting a client when she was caught off-guard, not fully aware of the events that were unfolding.

"When they first rolled in, I heard a lot of noise, but we always have a lot of noise at the legal office," Houseal said, "I was on the phone with the (Area Defense Council), so I wasn't sure what was going on and wasn't sure whether it was important."

Houseal explained that during her phone call, the shooter burst into her office where she became one of the first few victims. Though it was only an exercise this time, she said she certainly walked away from the situation with a few new lessons under her belt.

"It's definitely a good learning experience just to have that situational awareness and to understand what's going on and listening for things around you, and also to just respond when you hear it... because it could happen in real life," she said.
Kadena periodically holds exercises like these to keep Airmen ready for the unthinkable while still maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific.

In a push to better prepare the 18th Wing's Airmen, recent exercises have given Airmen here little to no warning before unfolding into often gruesome or stressful circumstances. Though there's no telling when or where the next scenarios will occur, luck almost always favors the prepared.