Escambia County

Travis Tompkins

Large public gatherings are, by definition, soft targets. They bring together dense crowds in open, accessible spaces with limited natural barriers, making them attractive to a wide range of threats, from acts of terrorism and targeted violence to natural hazards and simple human error. Securing these events is no longer just an Emergency Management function; it is a core Homeland Security priority that demands the same level of coordination, intelligence sharing and layered defense used to protect critical infrastructure.

As the Incident Commander for the Pensacola Beach Blue Angels Air Show, I have seen firsthand how a beach, a highway and a stretch of open water can be transformed into a hardened operational environment for a single weekend, hosting hundreds of thousands of spectators. Events like this are sometimes viewed with a "wash, rinse, repeat" mentality because they occur year after year. That mindset is dangerous in any context, but it is especially dangerous when the venue is an open, uncontrolled soft target. New threats emerge, technology changes, attendance fluctuates and every lesson learned from a previous year must be treated as an update to the threat picture, not a footnote.

Soft target protection starts with recognizing that the threat environment is no longer confined to the ground. Drone mitigation and detection have become a significant focus for events like ours. An unauthorized drone entering a temporary flight restriction is not merely a safety hazard for performers and spectators; it is a potential vector for surveillance, disruption or attack and it must be treated accordingly. Countering it requires close coordination between local, state and federal partners, along with the detection technology needed to identify a threat before it becomes an incident. This is precisely the kind of layered, multi-agency defense that Homeland Security doctrine calls for at soft target venues.

Environmental threats compound the challenge. July on Pensacola Beach means high temperatures, humidity and thousands of people spending hours in direct sunlight, all of which can degrade a crowd's ability to respond quickly if a security incident occurs. Planning includes strategically locating medical tents, establishing cooling stations and ensuring EMS resources are positioned for rapid response, not just to heat illness but to any mass-casualty scenario. Weather adds another layer of unpredictability: lightning, rip currents, high winds and rapidly developing thunderstorms can all force real-time decisions about delays, evacuations or suspending operations, decisions that must be made without compromising the security posture already in place.

The maritime environment is a soft target in its own right. Thousands of vessels gather offshore to watch the performances, creating one of the largest recreational boating events in the region and one of the least controlled. Safe navigation, maintaining emergency access lanes, enforcing vessel exclusion zones and coordinating with maritime law enforcement and the U.S. Coast Guard are essential not only for safety but for denying that open water as an avenue of approach.

Crowd management is where soft target vulnerability is most visible, and most consequential. Hundreds of thousands of people moving through a mix of open beach, roadways and vendor areas represent both a life-safety challenge and a security exposure. Managing that requires extensive coordination among law enforcement, fire rescue, EMS, public works and transportation, along with emergency management and numerous state and federal Homeland Security partners. Traffic flow, pedestrian movement and emergency access routes must all be established before the first aircraft takes to the skies. So, must reunification planning, public information strategy and contingency plans for mass casualty incidents, because at a soft target event, planning for the worst case is not pessimism; it is professional obligation.

Protecting soft targets does not happen by accident. It is the product of months of collaboration, planning meetings, training and exercising with partners who understand that securing a large public event is a shared responsibility across every level of government. Whether preparing for a hurricane or securing one of the nation's premier air shows, the mission is to identify the vulnerabilities, close the gaps and protect the community we serve. Just remember, "hope" is not a plan.