CORONADO, Calif. — What appeared to be chaos and carnage unfolded at Naval Air Station North Island on Tuesday.
It is all part of an intense eleven-day drill called Exercise Solid Curtain/Citadel Shield.
The Navy is conducting the annual large-scale force protection training exercise at installations across the country between Jan. 30 and Feb. 9.
In the scenario on Tuesday, a disgruntled employee entered a building wanting blood.
Capt. Scott Mulvehill stressed the importance of training.
"The reason we get over fear is through training and preparation," he said. He was a fighter pilot for 18 years, and he flew directly into danger.
"I have suffered personal losses during my career and each one of them are crushing," he explained. He said hundreds of people spent months training for the training.
Sailors, civilians and first responders knew something would happen on base, but they did not know what.
CDR Kelvin McGhee, who is the Commanding Officer Naval Computer Telecommunications San Diego, said they had to be ready for anything.
"We like to train the way we fight… and it should be run, hide, fight," McGhee said.
NCIS, Navy police and fire, Coronado police, DHS and emergency medical response services swarmed the area to work on working together. "We want it to be like muscle memory if anything like this actually happens," Mulvehill said.
He is now the commanding officer of Naval Base Coronado. With more than 35,000 on base. if something happens, it happens on his watch.
"I carried the memories of those who served and died with me. today's goal is to make sure we don't have any more losses," he added.
He said they are ready to defend themselves, which allows the to focus on defending America. You may notice deplays on base and at the Naval Medical Center during the training, especially on Feb. 7 and 8.
