Citadel Pacific 2014 Enhances Security, Readiness on Guam Installations

By JoAnna Delfin, Joint Region Marianas Public Affairs

ASAN, Guam (NNS) -- Navy and Air Force service members and personnel throughout the U.S. Pacific Command area of responsibility including Guam tested their anti-terrorism plans and response during Exercise Citadel Pacific 2014 (CP 14) from Aug. 25-29.

Joint Region Marianas (JRM), U.S. Naval Base Guam, Andersen Air Force Base, U.S. Naval Hospital (USNH) Guam and USS Oklahoma City (SSN 723) participated in the annual exercise to enhance the training and readiness of security forces to respond to threats to the installation and units.

"It's to prepare us for real-world type events and these scenarios here were based on incidents that have happened in the past," said JRM Security Officer Gregory Jacobs. "The focus will be to train our personnel to ensure that they can respond accordingly and they can take appropriate actions."

During the exercise, a simulated active-shooter event was held at the JRM headquarters where three individuals were pronounced dead at the scene and seven others severely wounded and transported to USNH Guam. Hospital Commanding Officer Capt. Jeannie Comlish said the mass casualty drill held in response to the simulated active-shooter incident was an excellent opportunity for her staff to test their readiness and response in the new facility.

"This is our first opportunity to really test the building and test how our staff work within in the building to flow patients to the places they need to go," she said. "We are clinically ready. We have an excellent staff and our clinical skills are outstanding, and we're here to take care of patients and provide that exceptional care."

Comlish added the exercise not only assessed the response of everyone involved but the partnership between different commands and agencies.

"I think that practicing and drilling and working together at times when it's not a reality... helps all of us for a time when disasters catch us off guard," she said. "They identify what we're doing really well and how we can communicate as partnership in a community."