Residents might hear or see something out of the ordinary near the Naval Weapons Station at Yorktown.
The military base’s annual “force protection exercise” starts Feb. 1-12.
“Naval Weapons Station Yorktown and Cheatham Annex’s participation in Citadel Shield-Solid Curtain 2021 improves the response effectiveness of our security forces and installation personnel,” Captain Jason J. Schneider, commanding officer of NWS Yorktown and Cheatham Annex, said in a prepared statement. “The exercise is designed to enhance the readiness of Navy security forces and ensure seamless interoperability among the commands, other services and agency partners.”
“Exercise CS-SC21 is not in response to any specific threat, but is a regularly scheduled exercise,” he added.
Residents can expect more traffic around the gates, delays in installation access, and might see or hear “security activities associated with the exercise” near the area, according to the news release.
While the announcement notes the exercise lasts approximately two weeks, residents can actually expect 10-15 minute traffic delays around the gates and noises related to the exercise on Feb. 1-5.
“It would be the morning, but they shouldn’t hear anything after noon,” said Susanne Greene, spokeswoman for the military installation. “If anybody hears anything it will be people in our housing … right outside the installation.”
Greene could not elaborate more on the timeframe of the exercise because the military base does not want its personnel to expect it.
“People know the drill is happening this coming week, but people don’t know when or where,” Greene added.
Law enforcement agencies and EMS have been notified about the training exercise, but if residents do hear something and are concerned, Greene advises them to call 9-1-1.
For more information, including questions about the exercise, residents can call Greene at 757-752-1304.
You can see a video from last year’s exercise below courtesy of Naval Weapons Station Yorktown’s Facebook page:
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