McConnell Air Force Base to conduct exercises this week

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — The 22nd Air Refueling Wing is conducting a four-day exercise beginning today and running through Thursday, testing a range of activities.

A number of scenarios and activities are written into this week’s exercise plan, including anti-terrorism and natural disaster response, as well as a host of smaller scenarios.

The Air Force requires each base to practice its response to evaluate training and maintain overall readiness. Additionally, each unit in the 22nd ARW submits exercise objectives on capabilities they wish to test, which are added in to the overall exercise plan.

The base says visitors may experience brief delays due to increased security measures. Exercises will include the following:

Tornado sirens and alert sirens

“Giant Voice” loudspeakers may be activated

Emergency response vehicles will move around the base

Security measures may be increased

Telephonic and electronic notification methods will be utilized

McConnell says they want to assure the public that this activity is planned, controlled and actively evaluated to ensure readiness and emergency capability.