Active Shooter Drill Achieves 100% Accountability In Minutes

NAVY UNIT ACTIVE SHOOTER DRILL ACHIEVES 100% ACCOUNTABILITY IN MINUTES 

Mustr Case Study: Secure Mobile Accountability that Keeps People & Data Safe 

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The notion of “taking care of your people” is core to every leadership role in the military. It is often said that people are the most important and critical resource that the military brings to bear. Leaders need to see critical information in real-time and react rapidly to care for them and ensure their safety, especially amidst an emergency or crisis. 

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A West Coast Navy Unit utilized Mustr, a mobile-first accountability software tool, to securely achieve 100% personnel accountability in ~30 minutes during a base-wide active shooter drill. Their example is being replicated across DoD.

The Situation

The Commanding Officer of a Navy Unit needed a way to reach out to his Sailors with important information, ensure that critical information was received, and collect  response data so he and his team could take appropriate follow-on actions. This need is inherently mobile, given that the vast majority of Navy personnel operate without computer access. “The Navy lacks enough computers for all of its personnel, thus, communication is always a challenge,” the CDR stated. 

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However, using text message chains or chat apps (such as WhatsApp or GroupMe) are not ideal for several reasons. These tools were not built with military cyber security needs and privacy protections in mind. Furthermore, they are not intended to generate the real-time aggregated response data needed to execute military accountability communication flows. 

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The standard fall-back process had been the classic phone tree during emergency accountability processes, whether for drills or real-world situations. This took huge amounts of time, often 6+ hours, and involved many personnel on phones, jamming response data into manual trackers, before leaders had visibility on who needed help and what rapid actions to take. 

The Solution 

The Unit connected with the Adyton team, interested in Mustr and the secure platform it is built on. They ultimately chose to begin beta testing and piloting with Mustr due to the system’s rapid recall and emergency accountability capabilities, SMS messaging options (no app download required), security, and ability to collect data in structured and actionable ways. The Commanding Officer also highlighted the system’s real-time updates and the ability to send and respond with anyone’s phone as particularly valuable.  

When the Unit implemented Mustr, they made it the official channel for important communication and rapid response. They ran multiple drills to help Sailors get used to using it, and kept an open line of feedback and communication with the Adyton team, to facilitate support. 

The Results

With Mustr, the Navy Unit was able to muster the command 95% faster than the rest of the base during an active shooter drill. While the base took almost 9 hours to complete accountability, their Navy unit completed the exercise in just over 30 minutes.

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Mustr was able to identify, in minutes, a large portion of the command that was safe, in contact, and accounted for, and then free leaders up to proactively chase down the remainder of the command. Some follow-ups were conducted within the Mustr software via one-tap reminders to different categories of personnel who had yet to respond. The list of outstanding responders was whittled further and further down until only a handful remained for traditional “line-of-sight” chasing and engagement.

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The CDR found Mustr to be very useful and effective and pushed after-action details on the clear and immediate drops in accountability times up the chain of command. That proactivity led to higher headquarters engagement and expanded test/piloting use with other commands on the installation.

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Beyond the clear benefits of Mustr, the Unit was impressed with the Adyton team’s support and dedication. When asked if they would recommend Mustr to other units, the Commander stated, “Worth it 100 percent! Start to value your people's time!”

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To learn more about Mustr and Adyton’s Zero Trust product suite, please email jprosek@adyton.io or visit our website at Adyton.io.

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