'Training is the key' Post performs active shooter drill

The sounds of gunfire rings from the hallways of a building on Fort Jackson as Garrison Antiterrorism Officer Mark Mallach roamed the floors.

As he approaches a closed door, Mallach places one hand on the knob while the other hand cradles the trigger on his gun.

"Let me in first sergeant! Let me in!" he yells as he shakes the door knob. "The shooter is out here! Let me in."

Fort Jackson's Special Troops Battalion participated in an Active Shooter drill May 25 lead by the Garrison Antiterrorism team.

Fort Jackson's Antiterrorism team performs an active shooter drill for each unit on Fort Jackson at least once a year.

May 25 was the Special Troops Battalion's turn.

"Don't ever discount any noise that you hear," Mallach told the unit after the exercise was over. "Some of the feedback we hear is that it sounds like fireworks, popcorn or banging

bricks. Doesn't matter, once you hear something run or get down."

Staff Sgt. Mark Benney, of the STB, said that having to go through this kind of training is very beneficial to Soldiers.

"Training is the key to understanding what to do in the situation. Training is the only way we can prepare ourselves to know what to do when this situation arises," said Benney.

Before the active shooter exercise, each unit on Fort Jackson gets classroom training on how to properly perform in different situations that might arise.

"It's going to be a surprise when it happens and you have to be in survival mode," Antiterrorism Officer Darren Woodland reminded the unit. "No active shooter is going to call you and say, 'Can you wait a second? I'm at the light. I'll be there in a few minutes to kill you.'"

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