NORFOLK, Va. — With 67,000 personnel, 63 ships, and 188 aircraft, there is plenty to protect at Naval Station Norfolk.
That's what the annual anti-terrorism/force protection exercise "Citadel Shield/Solid Curtain" is all about.
The fictitious scenario on Wednesday was that an insider threat gunman had gotten into LP-1 at Naval Station Norfolk's Chambers Field.
It was the base security team's job to react.
"There is no better way to test security forces than what we're doing this week. It's a very robust process designed to push us to the limit," said Commander Robert Collett, Naval Station Norfolk security officer.
He continued: "Our number one asset in the United States military is our people. There's a saying: mission first, sailors always. We're going to achieve optimal results in this event. And what that means is, no loss of life, no impact to mission. In short, good guys win and the bad guys do not."
Citadel Shied/Solid Curtain is taking place at all Navy installations in the continental United States.
Unfortunately, a real-life active shooter situation went tragically wrong in 2014 when a gunman got through Gate 5 at Naval Station Norfolk and made it to the quarterdeck of the USS Mahan on Pier One.
Sergeant at Arms Mark Mayo lost his life.
The episode serves as a painful reminder to today's sailors to train hard, always be alert and to take all potential threats seriously.
Lives can and do depend upon it.