Internal Military Report Blames Botched Shooter Drill On Poor Organization

[MARS]

So I'm not honestly seeing the big deal in this.
To get the best results from an objective outlook you really should not have forewarning about a drill/ex being done, other than folks who need to be in the loop from a safety standpoint, which really should just be the Local LE, the Base MP's and other Emergency Service Personnel.

There are AS drills done on facilities with no warning to personnel, and you do not see the same level of angst (okay they do happen down here - so maybe the reality makes folks less likely to bitch about tests.

Some tests don't even inform the local security forces - those can be kind of sketchy if not done for very specific purposes and with a safety system in check to ensure that no Blue on Blue occurs. The days of Demo Dick drinking - sorry I meant risk assessing - away that potential for Red Cell ops are long gone.

Okay the LE misidentified a person - learn from it, move on.

I suspect the day-to-day culture, in terms of a baseline starting point is probably relevant.

The US base I am currently stationed at, and the ones I have been previously stationed at, all had and have well established cultures of preparation and a reasonably informed workforce.

I pass through a VIG and ECP with armed USSFs everyday. USSF patrolling the base. K-9 unit on base. We are doing Active Shooter drills about every 10 days - often just the SiP and reporting parts, but still, you are hearing “ For exercise: Shelter in Place - Active Shooter” on the Gaint Voice every 10 days or so. Lots of literature posted on notice boards and on the tv screens. It’s simply omnipresent.

I have absolutely no Iidea what the preparedness and culture was at this depot for that, but universally, in my experiences in Canadian bases - and more so on/in units with a civilian workforce, that is decidedly not the culture.

It sounds like they went from zero to 100 without what I would consider the requisite orientation phase to inculcate an active shooter scenario as a threat. The article I read suggested that there was an attempt to do so but there was pushback from the Union. To me that indicates that they were/are at the “crawl” stage of the crawl-walk-run spectrum

 

[Haggis]

So I'm not honestly seeing the big deal in this.
To get the best results from an objective outlook you really should not have forewarning about a drill/ex being done, other than folks who need to be in the loop from a safety standpoint, which really should just be the Local LE, the Base MP's and other Emergency Service Personnel.

From the titular article:
"The report, authored by Col. Robin Chenard, says the employees had “never been exposed to a scenario of this magnitude” and blames the result on poor communications, planning and training.

“The training package, which consisted of a PowerPoint presentation and video, did not adequately prepare employees for an active shooter exercise of this nature,” it said.

and

"The report says that “unlike the rehearsal, the exercise began without audible alarms” and employed blank rounds, representing a “significant increase in the scale and scope of the exercise from previous years without a commensurate increase in coordination, communication or training.”

So much for crawl, walk, run.

There are AS drills done on facilities with no warning to personnel, and you do not see the same level of angst (okay they do happen down here - so maybe the reality makes folks less likely to bitch about tests.

That appears to have been the case here: "The report also says the depot was “at no time” informed of the exact date and location of the exercise, and that “most of the coordination was done by email, in many instances using a wrong/outdated distribution list.”

The event happened the day following the Remembrance Day long weekend.

June Winger, national president of the Union of National Defence Employees, said many in the facility don’t work with computers and came into work after the long weekend having missed the memo about the drill that went out on the Friday before.

I've been out for getting close to a decade now so I have no idea what the CAF/DND uses for ASHE training for the potential victim population. I suspect it's probably DLN based with little tracking or followup particularly within DND.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Petawawa had a similar issue 2 (?) years ago. PLQ enemy force wandering around base wearing civies with C7s.

One syndicates small party task was responding to a road block set up near the gym by enemy force who didn't pre-warn the base.

 

[lenaitch]

It's one thing for these exercises to impact civilian employees who, arguably should reasonably expect that things like this may happen on their employer's property, but with most bases being open access, it could have just as easily involved a random civilian. Many MFRC facilities like gym, pools, daycares and museums are open to the public.

 

[daftandbarmy]

So I'm not honestly seeing the big deal in this.
To get the best results from an objective outlook you really should not have forewarning about a drill/ex being done, other than folks who need to be in the loop from a safety standpoint, which really should just be the Local LE, the Base MP's and other Emergency Service Personnel.

There are AS drills done on facilities with no warning to personnel, and you do not see the same level of angst (okay they do happen down here - so maybe the reality makes folks less likely to bitch about tests.

Some tests don't even inform the local security forces - those can be kind of sketchy if not done for very specific purposes and with a safety system in check to ensure that no Blue on Blue occurs. The days of Demo Dick drinking - sorry I meant risk assessing - away that potential for Red Cell ops are long gone.

Okay the LE misidentified a person - learn from it, move on.

Good point, they could have just released a memo or something

Leaked 'wolf letter' leaves military sheepish, internal emails show​

Troops invented fake government wolf-release program, including hoax memo​

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/leaked-wolf-letter-nova-scotia-1.7093141