412th SFS trains with 'warrior mentality' Published Jan. 15, 2015 By Rebecca Amber Staff writer EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Air Force Security Forces Defenders must be able to handle any situation that arises to protect the public from danger. During a training exercise Jan. 14, the 412th Security Forces Squadron reviewed their procedures for an active shooter situation. Staff Sgt. Bradley Grupenhagen, 412th Security Forces Squadron senior instructor, said the exercise is a three-step process. First is an initial walk-through to give the defenders an idea of the building's layout. According to Grupenhagen, this is something most of the SFS defenders will do in buildings on base during their routine patrols. Next is a dry run. The goal is focusing on their tactics, without any "bystanders" in the building to distract them. Finally, they reach the evaluation portion of the exercise. Members of the team are assigned a role as a first responder or a bystander that is dead, injured or evacuating. Shots are fired and people run from the building, screaming with their arms in the air. The defenders must find and eliminate the threat as quickly as possible. "We see how the members deal with the added stress of maintaining tactics while dealing with the local populace," said Grupenhagen. During the exercise, the Airmen are armed with M-4s loaded with an M200 blank cartridge. "We use a blank firing adaptor to identify that no live rounds have been chambered into the weapon and then we also do a weapons safety check prior to coming in," said Grupenhagen. "It's very safe. The big bang just adds additional realism to it; it gets your heart pumping." 412th SFS also provides active shooter training to the general base populace. They want to ensure that bystanders know what to do if they hear shots fired, whether that means evacuating, hiding within the facility if it is unsafe to leave, or as a last resort, attempting to take down the shooter. It's also important for bystanders to know what information to provide to the first responders, such as the number of shooters, the number and type of weapons and a physical description of the suspect. The first defenders on the scene are not there to aid victims, but to find and eliminate the threat as quickly as possible. "We are in a life-saving mode at that point. We understand that bullet wounds and injuries are significant; however we have to prevent more. Generally in these environments we're looking at two to three minutes from initial shots fired to when the subject is down and they're pulling him out. It's extremely fast." But, as Grupenhagen was quick to point out, walking past an injured person without stopping to help is not easy. That's why they are trained to have a "warrior's mindset." "You must have that winner's mentality when you come into an unknown situation that's rapidly evolving. We need to be able to push past everything that we know that's right as a human being to walk past the person that's been shot... You have to have that winner's mindset that I will go in there, I will take care of this job and I'm going to save lives. Security forces uses Bldg. 7920 for training every three to six months. In addition to active shooter training, they use the facility for use of force, crime scene preservation and processing, and K-9 training. For more information about what to do in the event of an active shooter, visit http://www.beready.af.mil/disasters&emergencies/activeshooter.asp.