ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. -- There have been several incidents in the past where armed individuals attacked civilian locations, resulting in multiple innocent fatalities.

Random, terrifying and unpredictable, these acts seem to become more common with each passing year.

Two OSI members from Det. 106 at Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn., participated in a three-day long training program designed to prepare law enforcement for being first responders in an active shooter environment.

An active shooter is an armed person who has used deadly physical force on others and continues to do so while having unrestricted access to other victims.

"Confronting an active shooter is much different than a barricaded suspect or a hostage situation," said Special Agent Robert Redmon, Det. 106 special agent in charge. "An active shooter is someone who will kill at will and continue to kill people until they are stopped or they kill themselves. It is without doubt, a serious situation that requires training and immediate intervention to save lives. During this course we learned to stop the shooter and save lives."

While many of these random active shooter attacks have occurred in civilian locations, the possibility of it happening on a military installation is possible and perhaps even likely in the world we live in today.

"There are gang members, murderers, rapists, child molesters and drug distributors in the military - we know that all too well," SA Redmon said. "There is no reason we should not prepare ourselves for one of these active shooter events. The training we received is structured and teaches discipline. It prepares you for what you will encounter in the event and keeps you from becoming complacent."

Two National Tactical Officers Association instructors taught the active shooter course. Base and local law enforcement also participated in the event, giving AFOSI some time to share ideas and get acquainted with people they could be working with in the future.

"There were even Nashville police officers in this class," said Greg Gaby, one of the NTOA instructors. "This means they all will be trained in the same tactical procedures to put together an
actual response - because if something like this happens, it's going to take more than one agency to handle it obviously. So, they are going to be trained to be on the same sheet of music when it happens."

SA Redmon suggested that every detachment should get this type of training.

"Pair up with your local police or sheriff's office and do the training together," he said. "It is a great liaison opportunity and chances are that when one of these scenarios happens, those officers or deputies will be responding to the scene also."

And thanks to the training,SA Redmon and SA Andy Hinson, also from Det. 106,have been certified to instruct the course.

"Nothing is better in this job than to issue your agents the tools they may need some day to succeed," SA Redmon said. "Learning this discipline is nothing different than taking our annual dynamic entry training. You may not use it at your location but you have to have competency in what you do in the event you need to do it."