Active shooter drills at US military bases have become routine

2:38A sign outside the main gate of Fort Stewart, Georgia, Aug. 6, 2025.Russ Bynum/AP

Active shooter drills at military installations have become routine to prepare for situations akin to Wednesday’s event at Fort Stewart in Georgia, where five soldiers were injured but are expected to recover, according to officials.

Retired Army Gen. Robert Abrams, previously the commanding general of the 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Stewart and currently an ABC News contributor who visited the site two weeks prior, informed ABC News that active shooter training is a mandatory annual requirement.

“This training generally concentrates on the installation’s immediate response team and security forces,” he elaborated, likening them to police SWAT teams.

Last year, military police at Fort Stewart were seen engaged in an active shooter and hostage rescue training drill.

“These drills enhance collaboration between the fire department and the Fort Stewart police to save lives and avert disasters,” stated the Fort Stewart Public Affairs Office in a photo caption.

A sign outside the main gate of Fort Stewart, Georgia, Aug. 6, 2025.Russ Bynum/AP

The suspect involved in Wednesday’s event, Quornelius Radford, was “subdued” after fellow soldiers “immediately intervened” and tackled him, Brig. Gen. John Lubas, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division and Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield, stated during a press conference.

“These soldiers undoubtedly prevented additional injuries,” Lubas remarked.

In response to fatal mass shootings at various U.S. military bases over the past two decades, enhanced security measures have been instituted.

The most lethal mass shooting at a U.S. military base occurred in 2009, resulting in 13 fatalities and 30 injuries at Fort Hood in Texas.

An active shooter drill was carried out at Fort Stewart in 2011, simulating a real crisis with a staged shooter and hostage scenario—an exercise that had been planned “since the Fort Hood shooting,” one organizer told Military Times.

Strict regulations concerning weapon possession are also enforced on military bases.

Access to combat weapons for U.S. military personnel on bases is tightly controlled, with firearms stored in base armories. Their use is restricted to soldiers engaged in field training, and they are returned to the armory upon completion of that training.

The alleged shooter in today’s shooting incident at Fort Stewart is identified as Sgt. Quornelius Radford, a 28-year-old automated logistical sergeant from Jacksonville, Florida.U.S. Army

Lubas mentioned that Radford is suspected to have utilized a personal handgun, rather than a military-issued weapon.

Military personnel may possess personal firearms that are legally registered, but there are regulations on how these can be brought onto a base.

Despite the implementation of these heightened security protocols, tragic shootings have still occurred on U.S. military bases in recent years, and Wednesday’s shooting at Fort Stewart was not the first instance of gunfire at the base.