ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- The 97th Air Mobility Wing will conduct a severe weather aircraft fly-away exercise from Mar. 31 to Apr. 2, 2021.
The city of Altus and base residents may hear short tests of the Installation Warning Notification System sirens during this time. Local residents may also hear severe weather alerts and alert radio messages. All training messages will begin and end with "exercise, exercise, exercise." In the event of real-world inclement weather during the exercise, all standard emergency notification systems will be used. On Apr. 2, 2021, multiple aircraft will take off in short durations, resulting in a larger aerial presence than during normal day-to-day operations.
Vehicle, contractor and pedestrian entrance gates (the main and south gates) will not close for in-bound and out-bound traffic while alarms are sounding and during the shelter testing phase. Daily base services are expected to have minimal interruption during the exercise.
City of Altus residents can visit the city's emergency management site at https://www.altusok.gov/158/Emergency-Management for updates about the latest severe weather actions and to receive guidance on how to prepare a survival kit. Base residents can contact their respective unit emergency management representative for more information. As a reminder, base and city personnel can sign up for real-time alerts at https://www.altusok.gov/194/Citizen-Notification-System-Everbridge.
For further information about the exercise, contact the 97th Public Affairs Office at (580) 481-7700. For information about the city's emergency procedures, contact the City of Altus Emergency Management Director at (580) 481-2260.