MANSFIELD -- After two days of training at the Mansfield police training facility, Army and Marine reservists should be much better prepared in the event of an active-shooter attack at the Grand Prairie Armed Forces Reserve Complex.
News 8 was invited to attend Friday as reservists took part in active shooter scenarios conducted by the Grand Prairie Police SWAT team. It was the first time ever that the police department conducted training for Grand Prairie reservists on how to respond to an active shooter.
“This training is all about enhancing the safety and security of our soldiers, which is the primary concern of the Army Reserve and the Marine Corps Reserve,” said Army Reserve Maj. Matthew Dick, a public affairs office assigned to the base. “This is all about keeping our soldiers, our Marines safe.”
Last month, a series of News 8 stories highlighted concerns about the complex's security and preparedness for a terrorist attack. Hundreds of reservists train there on the weekends.
The concerns were brought to us by an Army reservist stationed at the base following last July’s attack at a Chattanooga reserve base left five service members dead. The reservist said there would be little in the way to stop a terrorist who wanted to attack the base.
His biggest concern was that none of the Army reservists were armed.
The fears of some reservists were also further amplified by the arrest in January of Houston terror suspect Omar Al-Hardan. He told authorities that he wanted to sneak into the Grand Prairie military base and blow up Humvees.
“While your story in itself was not the catalyst for this training, it certainly did a good job of publicizing why we need to have this training,” Dick said.
In January, the Army Reserve issued a directive that allowed for the arming of reservists. Dick said the process to begin arming soldiers had been initiated prior to the first News 8 story, which ran Feb. 18, but implementation had not yet occurred.
The Army Reserve has since armed a number of reservists at the Grand Prairie facility.
A combination of full-time active duty reservists and part-time reservists took part in the two-day training held at the Mansfield Police Department’s training facility. The reservists began Thursday with a full-day of classroom instruction, followed by a full-day of active shooter scenarios.
In the scenario we watched Friday, the terrorists were trying to plant improvised explosive devices to try to kill first responders.
“They came in,” Nathan Lawless, a Grand Prairie police SWAT instructor explained to the reservists. “Now they’re trying shooting people and they’re starting to take over the building. They’re actually going to set up a stronghold by setting up IEDs over the entryway inn case first responders try to come and help.”
Their job was to identify the threat and then neutralize it.
All of the scenarios revolved around active shooters who’ve made their way inside a building.
“All of the scenarios are set up so they'll learn and they’ll win and they'll progressively get harder,” Lawless said.
The goal is to make sure they soldiers and Marines are prepared defend themselves until police arrive. He says it’ll also help police and the reservists be able to better work together in the event of an attack.
The situation with Omar Al-Hardan wanting to attack the base just further highlighted the need for the training.
“We know there are threats out there and because those threats are out there we have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best,” he said.