Cannon, Clovis partner for exercise

The 27th Special Operations Wing held a hostile threat exercise June 20 at Cannon Air Force Base to test personnel capabilities and responses.

USAF: Airman 1st Class Alexxis Pons Abascal

An Air Commandos collaborates with a member of the Clovis Police Departments Special Weapons And Tactics team while assessing the situation near the scene of a simulated gunman June 20 in front of the courthouse at Cannon Air Force Base.

The Clovis Police Department was invited on base for the exercise to assist Air Commandos in disarming a simulated gunman and freeing his hostages.

"Our personnel are conditioned to respond in a certain manner in the event of an active shooter on base," said Senior Master Sgt. Bill Seamen, 27 SOW inspector general superintendent. "We purposely had the suspect alter tactics to see how our people would react and how security forces would reassess the situation."

Cannon has agreements in place with local agencies — police departments, fire stations and medical facilities — to better handle complex scenarios when they arise.

"The relationship our installation has with Clovis Police Department is the best one I've seen between a military unit and civilian law enforcement in years," said Maj. James Masoner, 27th Special Operations Security Forces Squadron commander. "This exercise provided our troops with an outstanding opportunity to work side-by-side our neighboring law enforcers."

Base personnel are reminded to maintain situation awareness at all times. Real world and exercise situations should be treated the same. When notifications are released of base incidents, all members are expected to respond accordingly and in a timely manner.

"We can't allow ourselves to become complacent," said Masoner. "There is a reason we train for situations like this; if and when something does go wrong, our personnel are more equipped to handle what's thrown at them at a moment's notice."