Bethesda Navy Base Leaders Warn of Noisy Combat Drills

Training exercises will use paintball guns, actors to simulate battlefield situations for medical students

By Aaron Kraut

The combat casualty drills will take place near the southeast corner of the NSAB campus, near the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Via Uniformed Services University

Training exercises this week on the campus of Naval Support Activity Bethesda (NSAB) will include gunshot sounds, yelling and actors in battlefield-like situations.

The combat casualty training for students at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences is set to run Tuesday and Wednesday and again on Aug. 17 and Aug. 18.

The drills will include paintball guns and “human-like simulators” in the woods in front of the Uniformed Services University, which is located on the Jones Bridge Road side of the 243-acre NSAB campus.

The base is home to the Uniformed Services University and the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, among other tenants.

NSAB Public Affairs Officer Ronald Inman sent a warning about the drills to Montgomery County officials. The training is meant “to portray realistic battlefield scenes and casualties,” Inman wrote in an email.

NSAB officials also warned employees of the training.

After an employee reported hearing gunshots in the Medical Center’s historic main tower building on July 6, law enforcement officials from across the region swarmed the campus .

Officers found no evidence of gunfire after an hours-long search that forced a partial evacuation.

“Due to recent incidents in which sounds were interpreted as gunfire and resulted in response from law enforcement, we want to ensure that you are aware of the exercise during these dates,” Inman wrote. “Please help us to communicate this information throughout your organizations and communities to ensure that there is no undue concern during the event.”

The Uniformed Services University trains doctors for service in the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force and U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.

During the drills, walking trails near the university will be closed.