Active-shooter drills at military bases have become standard to prepare for incidents similar to Wednesday’s incident at Fort Stewart in Georgia, where five soldiers were shot yet expected to recover, officials say.
Retired Army Gen. Robert Abrams, who served at Fort Stewart and visited there two weeks ago, told ABC News that active shooter training is an “annual training requirement.”
“It typically is focused on the installation’s immediate response force and the installation’s security forces,” he added, comparing them to police SWAT teams.
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Last year, Fort Stewart military police were pictured participating in an active shooter and hostage rescue training exercise.
“These exercises improve interoperability between the fire department and the Fort Stewart police force to save lives and prevent disasters,” the Fort Stewart Public Affairs Office said in a photo caption.
The alleged shooter in Wednesday’s incident, Quornelius Radford, was “subdued” after other soldiers “immediately intervened” and tackled him, Brig. Gen. John Lubas, the 3rd Infantry Division and Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield commander, said at a news conference.
“These soldiers, without a doubt, prevented further casualties,” Lubas said.
Enhanced security protocols at U.S. military bases were implemented in the wake of deadly mass shootings at several American military bases over the last two decades.
The deadliest mass shooting at an American military base occurred in 2009, where 13 people were killed and 30 others were wounded at Fort Hood in Texas.
At Fort Stewart, an active-shooter drill was conducted in 2011 that mimicked a real-life crisis with a fake shooter and hostage situation — an exercise that had been discussed “since the shooting at Fort Hood,” one of the organizers told Military Times.
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There are also strict rules on military bases regarding weapon possession.
Access to combat firearms of U.S. military personnel on bases is highly restricted, with the weapons stored on base armories. Their use is limited only to soldiers participating in field training and they are returned to the armory at the conclusion of that training.
Radford is believed to have used a personal handgun, not a military weapon, Lubas said.
Military personnel are allowed to possess personal firearms that are legally registered, but there are restrictions on how they can be brought onto a base.
Despite these increased security measures, deadly shootings have still occurred on U.S. military bases over recent years, and Wednesday’s shooting at Fort Stewart was not the base’s first time facing open fire.
On Dec. 12, 2022, an Army specialist shot and killed an Army sergeant at Fort Stewart. Both soldiers were assigned to the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team — the same brigade involved in Wednesday’s shooting.
A second fatal shooting at Fort Hood took place in 2014, which left three dead and 16 injured.
In 2019, numerous shootings occurred at military bases, including Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in Hawaii, the Marine Barracks in Washington, D.C., Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida, and the Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia.
