Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. (October 19,2024): In years past, Americans have assumed attacks happen “over there”, thousands of miles away from the “home front”. No longer. In this photo by Garrett Dipuma, Pensacola Naval Security Forces escort a “gate jumper” during a readiness exercise to evaluate base security. Today’s threats to Navy installations include intruders, drone swarms, civilian protests, cyber hackers, disinformation campaigns, and attacks on power sources. Unfortunately, technical advances have brought these threats closer to home.

Each year, Naval Installations Command runs exercises like these to evaluate how well regional installations work with local agencies to confront these threats. In addition to joint patrols and information exchanges, base security officials have added high tech enhancements, such as robot patrol vehicles, to expand security coverage. This year, special attention is being placed on the threat posed by drone aircraft to critical installations. These cheap, readily available aircraft have been used to gather intelligence or conduct direct attacks on U.S. facilities.

The highlight of the training was a series of active-shooter drills involving the NAS Pensacola Anti-Terrorism Training Team and SWAT team members from area agencies. Joint Navy and civilian teams practiced working together to gather intelligence and effectively communicate in chaotic situations.

The NAS Pensacola area has a lot of real estate to protect. It is home to numerous operations and training commands including the Naval Aviation School and is home to the famous Blue Angels fighter demonstration team.