During the week of March 19-24 emergency responders on Navy installations around the world will engage in Solid Curtain/Citadel Shield 2012, the largest force protection/anti-terrorism exercise on all naval bases and installations conducted in the continental United States
The service is asking civilian employees who work on base to stay home if they can on March 23, the day of the exercise that the Navy anticipates will include the extra security checks at base entrances. Some civilians are being encouraged to use vacation time that day while others will work longer days earlier in the week or telecommute.
Solid Curtain/Citadel Shield 2012 has been planned to have the lowest impact on the community and base personnel as possible, but there will be times of heightened alert when the aperture for base entry and exit will be tightened and there will be some disruption to the normal traffic flow.”
No details of the exercise could be publicized at this time in order to ensure that the exercise properly evaluates the base’s emergency readiness and capabilities during emergencies such as a terrorist attack on the base’s facilities and personnel.
“The task is to ensure that everyone here is safe, can enter and exit safely and perform as necessary in order to maintain the operations on base.”
What might be the most crucial time period is from noon on Thursday, March 22 through noon on Saturday, March 24 when bases will be at its highest alert status. That is the time period when area traffic patterns are likely to be disrupted the most during the exercise
A series of mock drills are staged to resemble real-life emergencies during Solid Curtain/Citadel Shield throughout the region.
Military installations affected in our area include:
- JEB Little Creek-Fort Story
- NAS Oceana – Dam Neck Annex
- NAVSTA Norfolk
- NAVSTA Newport
- NSA Mechanicsburg
- NSA Hampton Roads-Northwest Annex
- Norfolk Naval Shipyard
- Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
- WPNSTA Yorktown – Cheatham Annex
- SCSC Wallops Island
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