Anniston, AL – The Calhoun County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) held training for first responders to better manage active shooter situations. The course provided by FEMA, Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service/National Emergency Response and Recovery Training Center, Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center at Texas State University, and National Center for Integrated Emergency Response (operated by C3 Pathways) was designed to specifically target command staff’s responsibilities during mass shooting situations where multiple agencies may be involved.
Myles Chamblee, Director of Calhoun County EMA, said the three-day event has been attended by personnel from the Anniston, Jacksonville, Jacksonville State University, Oxford, and Moody Police Departments, the Calhoun and St. Claire County Sherriff’s Office, Alcohol Tobacco & Firearms, and the Moody Fire Department. Chamblee also stated, “We would also like to thank the Anniston Fire Department for letting us use the training center to provide this training to everyone.” The facility was broken into three different sections, the first was the lecture room, the second was the “area command” section, and the third was the training room. The training room was also broken into sections in the same manner that a live incident would take place, a “Staging Area”, “Tac Triage Transport”, “Command”, “Dispatch”, “Contact”, “RTF (rescue task force)”, “Ambulance” and a “Helicopter Simulator”. Each station was connected to the other teams who were able to see on their screens what was happening in real time and communicated via radio to the dispatcher and other teams on scene.
Over the three days of training the attendees went through many different scenarios such as an active shooter at an airport, active shooter at the mall, and active shooter in a school. Each scenario is different, and elements can be added such as more shooters and multiple locations. Due to this training being for incident command staff there were no live actors to play victims and no vehicles were needed. We spoke to Kevin Nichols, an instructor with the National Center for Integrated Emergency Response, who said the name of the training was ASIM (Active Shooter Incident Manager) and is used as a reunification exercise to help all each of the different entities work a coordinated active shooter quickly and safely. There are five instructors that work within the room during the incidents to respond to technical issues as well as to provide training in responses.
Chamblee also noted that while the cost of the training exceeds $100,000, but FEMA training funds covered expenses. “We were very happy to receive a call from the company [National Center for Integrated Emergency Response] telling us that they were going to be able to fit a class into their schedule as they finished up in Oklahoma. Instead of going to their next class in Texas they detoured their route and came here first which was amazing because it can take up to two years to get a scheduled class.”
The media was invited to come to the training held on Wednesday, July 23, 2025 to see one of the virtual simulations run. The scenario was at an airport with at least one active shooter. It begins when the dispatcher sends out a radio call for a potential active shooter and law enforcement enters the room and takes their place at a computer station. While they are in route to the location the dispatchers maintain updates with additional information that comes to them. Upon arrival the officers enter the building as teams and begin to notify dispatch of injured and deceased people and their locations as they continue to search for the shooter. At this time the command staff enters and take their position at the assigned task. RTF then begins to triage the victims by placing colored cards on them that assess their injuries. Meanwhile the primary searching officers keep moving forward to stop the shooter as dispatchers continue to give updates to the patrol and to the command staff of information as it comes. Once the first shooter was neutralized, they began to search for a second shooter. When the airport was finally cleared of shooters the assigned Public Information Officer (PIO) conducted a press conference to provide the public with information about the incident. Once the press conference was completed the scenario ended. It took officers approximately 25 mins from the dispatch time to secure the airport terminal.
County Commissioner Danny Shears came to the class and spoke with the Calhoun Journal. He said, “I am very glad to have the opportunity to stop by and see the live training. I was impressed with the instructors and the students in training and the level of professionalism.” He went on to say, “I believe that this kind of training in the county will create a future where we are better prepared if something like this happens. Our county first responder leaders are training to be more prepared to manage any type of incident.”
The course was completed on Wednesday after three eight-hour days of training. Attendees will receive a certification on the course and the hours also apply to continuous education hours required by the State of Alabama.
