GTMO EOC Gear Up For Solid Curtain, Citadel Shield 2012

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (SW/AW) Justin Ailes, Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba Public Affairs

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba (NNS) -- Installation Training Team and Emergency Operations Center personnel at Naval Station (NS) Guantanamo Bay will test various security measures during exercise Solid Curtain-Citadel Shield (SC-CS) 2012, March 20.

SC-CS is an annual weeklong exercise held in coordination with U.S. Fleet Forces Command and Commander Navy Installations Command to maintain a high level of force protection readiness for Navy installations.

SC-CS will impact all Navy installations across the continental United States, including the ships and tenant commands located on those bases. NS Guantanamo Bay will participate in the SC-CS exercise for one day.

"The exercise provides us an opportunity to test and evaluate the installation and tenant command's ability to detect, respond, mitigate and recover from an antiterrorism and/or force protection event," said NS Guantanamo Bay Installation Training Officer Kevin Robarge. "Although the details are not for release to ensure the responses are not scripted, the exercise will be conducted at multiple areas around the installation."

A primary objective of SC-CS is to test the Navy's ability to rapidly establish heightened installation security and emergency management postures while simultaneously executing operational sorties of ships and aircraft if required, providing required fleet logistical support, accomplishing needed maintenance and repairs supporting ongoing fleet operations, and conducting recovery and restoration actions on affected Navy installations.

"Residents need to be aware that although we are attempting to minimize any disruption in normal operations, they will observe emergency responder movements and there may be temporary closures of roads or facilities," said Robarge. "Additionally, the Mass Warning and Notification system may be used, and information regarding the exercise will be displayed on the roller and radio as part of the testing. This exercise and others are all part of our Annual Training and Readiness program intended to test, evaluate and improve our overall readiness."