Force protection exercise underway at Naval Support Activity Panama City
Each day, base personnel face a different threat scenario to test and enhance mission readiness. They practice for active shooters, unauthorized base access, and improvised explosive devices.
The Bay County Sheriff's Office joined Thursday's exercise, which involved a hostage situation. Officials say the scenarios are designed to be as realistic as possible.
'We train as we fight. So even though the environment is set as a training environment, all the actors and all the simulations are actually done as if we were doing it in real life. So, the hostage that's being held truly has heart palpitations, and the response to that is also the same thing. It's a real-world type response,' Naval Support Activity Panama City Commanding Officer Cmdr. Michael Mosi said.
The only thing not real is the weapons. Participants used either blanks in their firearms or air-soft guns.
The simulation also allowed Bay County Sheriff's Office Hostage Negotiation and SWAT teams to integrate and exercise their tactics.
'Nothing replaces a high-stress training environment. It is going to be as realistic as you can get, particularly when we're working in a scenario and in an environment that we're not familiar with,' Bay County Sheriff's Office Swat Team Assistant Team Leader Lt. Chris Coram said.
'Dealing specifically with force protection, the responses are very dangerous responses. And so, it's critical that we have that tie-in, that we're not guessing what the other person is going to do come time of a real event,' Cmdr. Mosi said.
Officials also highlight the opportunity to work with the community.
'Just because the installations have a fence line around it doesn't necessarily mean that we're separate from the communities within which we live. Economically, we're tied. The sailors and the military personnel and the DOD civilians that work on the installations live out in the communities and so it's very important that we have that tie, that symbiotic relationship,' Cmdr. Mosi said.
The exercise began Monday and runs through next Friday. Thursday's hostage scenario is the only time the sheriff's office is participating in this training.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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