The Directorate of Emergency Services performed an active shooter exercise at Thayer Hall March 22.
The exercise was facilitated by Matthew Cassidy, an antiterrorism officer at the U.S. Military Academy.
Functional exercises allow personnel to validate plans and readiness by performing their duties in a simulated operational environment.
Activities for a functional exercise are scenario-driven, such as the failure of critical functions or a specific hazard scenario.
Functional exercises are designed to exercise specific team members, procedures and resources (e.g., communications, warning, notifications and equipment set-up).
The exercise conducted at West Point was designed to evaluate, enhance and strengthen the installation’s capabilities in response to an emergency situation.
The exercise conducted partially satisfied the Army’s Emergency Management and Antiterrorism Exercise requirement.
There will be three additional functional exercises and a community action week where assessors will visit various organizations and evaluate their Continuous Operation (COOP), Emergency Action Plans (EAP) and Random Antiterrorism Measures (RAMs) program from now through July.
In addition to those exercises, West Point will continue with the no notice exercises (active shooter/lockdown assessments) throughout the installation.
The exercises allow the community the opportunity to practice its response, to ensure that it maintains its proficiency and to find ways to improve.
The ultimate goal is keeping West Point safer for the cadets, Soldiers and the civilian employees. (Photos by Jorge Garcia/PV)