In late April, the Radford Army Ammunition Plant held their annual Weapons of Mass Destruction exercise.
Christopher Finley, communication manager with BAE Systems/Ordnance Systems Inc., part of the plant, who is also an adjunct instructor in the school of communications at Radford University, organized a mock press conference in conjunction with the emergency drill recruiting ten students from his university public relations course, preparing them to get information in a challenging situation, and preparing the facility to give it.
This year’s drill, the 15th the plant has held, centered on an Active Shooter scenario in which two disgruntled employees crash through a gate where people were waiting to clock out, then proceed to take over the administration building with guns.
“Emergency response exercises like these are critical events designed to make RFAAP better prepared to respond to real-world crisis-emergency situations,” Finley wrote in an email. “This was also a great platform to give students a chance to apply what they are learning in the classroom.”
Finley’s students interviewed Lt. Col. James Scott, commander of the RFAAP, in order to gauge the facility’s ability to respond to the media during a WMD incident.
The students had two days to prepare for the event. They were provided some background specifics about the scenario.
The nearly real-world experience, the first for the two institutions, was reportedly useful to them both.
“Confession,” Finley said. “in addition to the experience they gained, I also gave them some extra credit points for participating!”
Playing reporters in a harrowing situation, students were responsible for transportation to and from the installation, finding the press briefings location in the visitors’ center and having a reliable plan to record information useful to the community bringing pens, paper, camera, back-up batteries and a well-charged phone.
The students practiced decorum sticking to the format of the mock media conference and properly introducing themselves and the media they represented taking on the roles as CNN, Fox News, News Messenger, Radford News Journal, The Roanoke Times, WDBJ Channel 7, WSLS Channel 10, Washington Post, and Politico reporters.
Students asked LTC Scott three individual questions during two separate press briefings. There were a total of 54 questions and answers exchanged during the mock briefings.
Lt. Col. Scott, who became director barely a year ago, has been emphasizing public outreach to make the RAAP facility and the Army’s work there more transparent, by improving public accessibility through social media platforms, inviting community groups to tour the installation, establishing relationships with neighboring institutions like RU and Virginia Tech, and, it appears, honing the plant’s communications savvy.
“I am incredibly thankful to the students’ participation and the professor’s willingness to set up and conduct the mock press conference in conjunction with our annual WMD exercise.” Scott said. “The students were phenomenal in their representation of over 10 different media outlets and their ability to engage with challenging questions improved my media engagement readiness and better prepared me to respond in the event of a real press conference,” he said.
The annual exercise worked to test inter-agency cooperation with the Army this one orchestrated 21 agencies and 90 people.
Finley called the “Active Shooter “ scenario a “a difficult exercise” and throughout the day-long exercise there were successes as well as lessons learned.
“Communication with the hospitals went well, press conference and Family Assistance Center did well – response from our mutual aid partners was outstanding – getting to the wounded, triage and transport was good,” he said. “The synchronization of communication within the common operating picture was a little rough around the edges at the start of the exercise but smoothed out over time.”
Multiple levels of law enforcement and public safety agencies participated including Virginia State Police, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Christiansburg Police Department, Pulaski County Sherriff’s Department, Virginia State Police Criminal Counter Intelligence Team and the US Army police.
Other stakeholders included Lewis Gale Montgomery County Hospital, Lewis Gale Pulaski County Hospital, Carilion New River Medical Center, Virginia Department of Health — New River Health District, Virginia Department of Emergency Management, New River Valley Community Services, Western Virginia EMS, Red Cross, Roanoke Valley Medical Reserve Corps, Centerra Security/Fire/EMS, BAE Systems, Army Safety/Security/Emergency Management.
The victims were portrayed by Roanoke Valley Medical Reserve Corp and BAE Systems employees. “Family members” and “the press” were all from Radford University.
Following the emergency, the student/press asked questions many insightful, many disturbingly familiar that the press gathers to inform the public.
Many questions about injuries and fatalities, the identities of the perpetrators, their nationalities and motives, and whether the community is safe.
They asked, “Is the community at risk?” and then pragmatic “ Will the facility be closed? How long?” “How will employees be paid during the time they are kept out?” and “How do we know the facility is safe? Who decides if it’s safe for employees to return and on what criteria do they decide?
“It was exciting to stage a mock press conference to experience the process and challenges of effectively communicating and disseminating information,” public relations student Alyssa Woolwine said. “The mock press conferences really helped me gain real world experience that will assist me in my future career.”
Like the emergency response crews, after the interview with Scott, the professor and students reviewed lessons learned from the field experience.
