Pax River Readies for Exercise Citadel Shield-Solid Curtain 2026

Naval Air Station Patuxent River will participate in the annual force protection exercise, Citadel Shield-Solid Curtain, from January 26 to February 6.

Exercise Citadel Shield-Solid Curtain 2026 is conducted by Commander, US Fleet Forces Command and Commander, Navy Installations Command on all Navy installations in the continental US.

“Pax River joins Navy bases across the region and country in training to protect our personnel and mission from possible attack,” said NAS Patuxent River Commanding Officer CAPT Mark Zematis. “Of note is that the scale of this year’s CSSC exercise is expected to be bigger than the previous year, but our security and emergency personnel will try to mitigate impact to the base. Even so, traffic delays should be expected by all on base.”

Citadel Shield, which occurs the first week, is the field training exercise portion led by CNIC. Solid Curtain occurs the following week and is the command post exercise led by USFFC. This two-part approach was designed to enhance the readiness of Navy security forces and ensure seamless interoperability among the commands, other services and agency partners in order to protect life, equipment, and facilities.

CSSC26 is a regularly scheduled exercise and is not being held in response to any specific threat.

Measures have been taken to minimize disruptions within local communities and to normal base operations, but there may be times when the exercise causes increased traffic around bases or delays in base access. Brief gate closures are expected.

Area residents might also see or hear security activities associated with the exercise. Advanced coordination has taken place with local law enforcement and first responders.

Base residents and personnel are reminded to avoid posted exercise areas.