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| Lt. Solivan, a PAO in Quantico, having a long day. |
First, our condolences to the families that have lost their loved ones so close to home.
Recently the USMC has suffered a series of fatalities from accidents and non-combat related tragedies. But how does the military respond, and if you've got friends on base, what should you do?
For the incident at Quantico, VA
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2013/03/marine-quantico-base-on-lockdown-following-shooting-032213w
So if an incident happens on base, here's a few things that would, hypothetically happen:
First, emergency services will deal with whatever emergency is occurring, and then there could be a lock down. The military always teaches to secure the area first, in any situation, but for a non-combat situation, this isn't just about setting up police tape. To secure the area means to secure everything: clear buildings, get statements from witnesses, possibly stopping traffic into and out of the base, and even more actions when appropriate. From the outside looking in, the military will seem tight-lipped and defensive. From inside looking out, it feels like people are giving orders without explaining why.
Perhaps you've heard of situations in policing where the chances of solving a crime and capturing the criminals exponentially decrease by the hour. The military knows this, and will act decisively to find evidence and criminals as quickly as possible. What will start to happen is people's movement might be stopped, in the form of a lock down, as I mentioned earlier. Depending on the severity, people might not even be allowed to leave their work buildings or barracks.
Additionally, there is another kind of lock down that you can think of, as if it were a kind of "cyber" lock-down. What happens is that communication lines, sometimes including the internet are cut off. This can stop the spread of rumors, or criminal communication of a fleeing suspect, but it is most commonly used to ensure that the families of persons wounded or killed are informed directly, and through official channels. In military vernacular, this is called "being in River City". It was very common in Iraq, and still fairly common in Afghanistan in order to inform the families of servicemen who have been wounded or killed in action. Such information is not the kind of thing you want spread over Facebook.
So if you have a friend or family member on base during a tragedy like this, what do you do?
Easiest thing to do is be patient. The chance of the person you know being directly involved is rather unlikely. If your service members are in lock down, they aren't going anywhere, and they might not even be able to contact you to tell you they'll be late for dinner. Secondly, if you are worried, note that most units have what the USMC calls a Family Readiness Officer. Usually this person is a wife of a unit commander, and will be able to give information to family members, and sometimes talk to specific service members personally.
At the end of the day, the mostly likely case is that your service member will contact you later than he/she should, and inform you that they were delayed by a crappy day at work. So your best bet is to try and not to panic yourself while you wait.
Stay safe out there.
SEMPER FILLY
