Scott Hyderkhan on Compatibility & Interoperability Within a Complex ASHER

Rob Elementary School, Uvalde Texas

Written by: Scott Hyderkhan
Published in the ILEETA Journal | Volume 14 Edition 1, 2024
International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association

On May 24, 2022, an active shooter executed 21 innocent victims, of which 19 were children ranging in age from 9-11years old. The shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde Texas can be described as cascading circumstances, that when combined led to arguably, one of the most heart wrenching active shooter events in US history. The majority of those circumstances were due to deficits in organization, which resulted in inadequate operational, tactical, and training planning. Organization and culture building are leadership tasks necessary to facilitate mission success in an Active Shooter Hostile/Event Response (ASHER).

In an ASHER, the threat has a say in the fight… That is to say, the Robb Elementary killer, was a highly motivated threat, he was decisive in his moves, seized initiative, and held onto it as long as he could. He was able to break the momentum of the response and thus, exposed the inefficienciesthat existed within the overall ASHER response. If the threat were less robust, or if he was neutralized prior to entering Robb Elementary school, the narrative would be one of successful response. The inefficienciesthat clearly existed within the organizational structure would not have been exposed simply due to an early termination of hostilities.

Pivotal Moment in Emergency Management

The Robb Elementary school massacre is unique in that it is a perfect storm, so to speak. It displayed obvious competence failures at all echelons, in various institutions, and at every level of government. Unique also in that the victims were children whose parents were onsite to witness the utter ineptitude of society to protect their children. Although Robb Elementary is unique in its specific circumstance, previous challenging active shooter events suggests that inefficiencies in leadership, organizational structure, planning, and preparation are systemic throughout the United States. The Robb Elementary school shooting response is a pivotal moment. It has brought to light weaknesses within our national emergency management of ongoing acts of active shooters and Complex Coordinated Terror Attacks. The inability to tailor a joint operation of regional assets, in mustering, maximizing use, and controlling assets, was placed under a microscope. This seminal moment exposes a vulnerability to Complex Coordinated Terror Attacks.

Breaking Points in ASHER Management

Historically speaking, active shooter events that have been manageable occur when casualties are minimal, the footprint of the event is small, the response is inner agency/organic, and the threat neutralized in short order. This creates circumstances that are recognizable and within the participating organizations’ spectrum of experience. It also does not evaluate multijurisdictional response plans. Two examples that come to mind are the Gilroy garlic festival shooting, in Gilroy, CA. and the Central Visual Performance Arts High School shooting, in St. Louis. In both cases the participating officers were familiar and had trained together. The casualty counts were minimal. The threat in both cases was neutralized quickly, and the scenes managed competently.

What has in the past and currently proven to be difficult in managing, are the instances of active shooter that are outside the scope of experience of first responders, institutions that are targeted, and other supporting governmental, and private organizations that are in the response and support network. Some outside the scope of experience examples are: Continued ongoing acts of violence or the inability to evacuate wounded due to threat area denial; Large footprint of wounded and killed; Substantial number of seriously injured victims. These issues require additional 1st responders, joint operations of fire and police, high levels of coordination, operational awareness, and discipline to maintain ingress and egress routes, coordination of rotary wing and ground evacuation operations, medical triage and coordination with local, and regional hospitals, to name a few logistical issues and moving parts. Historic cases in point:

Sandy Hook Elementary School Massacre, notable issues: First responders’ self-dispatching; LE officer vehicles parked and obstructing ingress and egress routes.

Pulse Night Club, Orlando, Florida, notable issues: Failure to immediately neutralize threat; Barricaded threat obstructing the evacuation of wounded victims that were in the barricaded bathroom; Failure in adequate LE and Fire coordination; Casualty self­ evacuation; Inefficiency triage, and medical facility use.

Las Vegas Mass Shooting: Failure to timely Neutralize threat; Large number of wounded caused casualty
collection and evacuation issues; Self, civilian and law enforcement casualty evacuation without triage creates inefficient medical facility use and risks unidentified victims at hospitals.

Parkland, Florida, Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS: Failure in response to neutralize threat; Lack of LE agency coordination; Inadequate interagency communications.

The ASHER operation is a large endeavor that has 8 distinct subordinate missions. Those missions are:

• Movement to Contact.
• Casualty Collection & Evacuation.
• Clear & Secure Objective & Affected Area. Evacuation of All Innocent and Non-Mission Essential Personnel from Objective.
• Reunification Operations.
• Investigation.
• Conduct Concurrent Public Information Operations.
• Return Affected Area to Normal Operation.

In these subordinate missions, the many partnering groups participating come from an array of diverse institutions, institutions who consist of multiple independent operating organizations, with differing operating procedures, equipment, and philosophies. Figure I visualizes the many partnering institutions, and the waves of response that playout in an operation, and why joint operational compatibility and interoperability are necessary to achieve order, competency, and success.

Achieving Compatibility & Interoperability

The missing link in establishing order is cohesive planning and training doctrine. Partnering institutions and organizations within those institutions need shared understanding in strategy, mission, vision for success, and conceptually how we will operate as a team to achieve our vision. They also lack a shared command and control philosophy. The goal in establishing commonality is to achieve ASHER compatibility and interoperability within regional partners. (See figure 2).

Finally, the road to order and success in complex ASHER is the adoption of doctrinal principles in Command, Operational, Tactical, and Training Planning. It is there that competence, mutual trust, and shared understanding will be achieved, leading the way to an orderly, agile, decisive force, capable of disciplined initiative and prudent risk taking. ILEETA