Naval Station Mayport prepares for anti-terrorism force protection exercise

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville’s Naval Base says they are always working to keep us safe.

Naval Station Mayport wants to make sure their security forces, sailors and civilians are trained to respond to danger. That’s why Naval Station Mayport’s Lieutenant Jason Schwartz, an Insulation Security Officer says come Monday to all of their naval installations that will happen.

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“There will be some blank gunfire, terrorist type scenarios that we combat every day or threats known to be around the world, we try to make sure it’s as realistic as possible,” Lt. Schwartz said.

This is an annual training at Mayport, it is called anti-terrorism force protection exercise.

“A weeklong exercise in training evolution,” Lt. Schwartz said.

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Naval Station Mayport tells Action News Jax some of the real-world scenarios they’ll be going through will be learning how to diffuse a bomb and how to be ready out at sea if and when another ship tries to attack them.

“I’ve been in situations where each and every interictal part of what we’re training to do has definitely saved my life,” Lt. Schwartz said.

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Emergency management, fire, first responders, afloat units and assets will all take part.

Exercise coordinators have taken measures to minimize disruptions to normal base operations. However, personnel should expect an increased presence of emergency vehicles on base and congested traffic.

“Anything that could come our way we have to train on a constant basis,” Lt. Schwartz said.

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