diff --git a/cave/com.raytheon.viz.texteditor/src/com/raytheon/viz/texteditor/alarmalert/util/AlarmAlertFunctions.java b/cave/com.raytheon.viz.texteditor/src/com/raytheon/viz/texteditor/alarmalert/util/AlarmAlertFunctions.java
index e00d996f92..c76b39f04c 100644
--- a/cave/com.raytheon.viz.texteditor/src/com/raytheon/viz/texteditor/alarmalert/util/AlarmAlertFunctions.java
+++ b/cave/com.raytheon.viz.texteditor/src/com/raytheon/viz/texteditor/alarmalert/util/AlarmAlertFunctions.java
@@ -90,6 +90,9 @@ import org.locationtech.jts.geom.GeometryFactory;
  *                                     code cleanup
  * 07/05/2016   19153   mgamazaychikov Fix disappearance of AlarmAlert Bell after initial close
  * Jan 24, 2018  7132      tgurney     Add destroyAlarmAlertBell()
+ * Sep 13, 2023         tiffanym@ucar  Brought back logic that looks at the site level for the
+ *                                     DefaultSiteAlarms.xml if it doesn't exist at the workstation
+ *                                     level
  *
  *
  * </pre>
@@ -667,21 +670,44 @@ public class AlarmAlertFunctions {
     }
 
     /*
-     * Try to load the site file.
+     * Try to load the workstation file. If there is no workstation file then
+     * try to load the site file and create a new workstation file from it. If
+     * there is no site file, then create a new default workstation file.
      */
-    public static AAPACombined loadSiteAlarms(ILocalizationFileObserver listener) {
+    public static AAPACombined loadSiteAlarms(
+            ILocalizationFileObserver listener) {
+        LocalizationFile workstationFile = getFile(
+                initLocalization(LocalizationLevel.SITE), SITE_FILE);
         AAPACombined aapaCombined = null;
 
-        LocalizationFile siteFile = getFile(initSiteLocalization(), SITE_FILE);
-        if (siteFile == null) {
-            aapaCombined = createDefaultAAPACombined();
+        if (workstationFile == null || !workstationFile.exists()) {
+            // no workstation file found. try the site file
+            LocalizationFile siteFile = getFile(initSiteLocalization(),
+                    SITE_FILE);
+            if (siteFile == null) {
+                aapaCombined = createDefaultAAPACombined();
+            } else {
+                try {
+                    aapaCombined = loadFile(siteFile.getFile());
+                } catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
+                    aapaCombined = createDefaultAAPACombined();
+                }
+            }
+            // save work file
+            if (workstationFile != null) {
+                saveAlarms(aapaCombined, workstationFile);
+            }
+        } else {
             try {
-                aapaCombined = loadFile(siteFile.getFile());
+                aapaCombined = loadFile(workstationFile.getFile());
             } catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
                 aapaCombined = createDefaultAAPACombined();
             }
         }
 
+        if (workstationFile != null) {
+            workstationFile.addFileUpdatedObserver(listener);
+        }
         return aapaCombined;
     }
 
diff --git a/edexOsgi/com.raytheon.uf.edex.plugin.text/src/com/raytheon/uf/edex/plugin/text/dao/StdTextProductDao.java b/edexOsgi/com.raytheon.uf.edex.plugin.text/src/com/raytheon/uf/edex/plugin/text/dao/StdTextProductDao.java
index e21423877f..0dcbb52215 100644
--- a/edexOsgi/com.raytheon.uf.edex.plugin.text/src/com/raytheon/uf/edex/plugin/text/dao/StdTextProductDao.java
+++ b/edexOsgi/com.raytheon.uf.edex.plugin.text/src/com/raytheon/uf/edex/plugin/text/dao/StdTextProductDao.java
@@ -126,6 +126,10 @@ import com.raytheon.uf.edex.plugin.text.impl.TextDBStaticData;
  * Nov 09, 2021  22859    zalberts       Added additional sort by datacrc to
  *                                       AFOS_QUERY_STMT for consistent results
  *                                       when reftime and inserttime are equal.
+ * Sep 13, 2023         tiffanym@@ucar   Force text workstation requests to look at the 
+ *                                       operational stdtextproducts db table instead
+ *                                       of practicestdtxtproducts db table when CAVE
+ *                                       is running in practice mode (Unidata default)    
  *
  * </pre>
  *
@@ -237,10 +241,8 @@ public class StdTextProductDao extends CoreDao {
      *            true for operational table, false for practice table
      */
     public StdTextProductDao(boolean operationalModeFlag) {
-        super(DaoConfig.forClass("fxa",
-                (operationalModeFlag ? OperationalStdTextProduct.class
-                        : PracticeStdTextProduct.class)));
-        this.operationalMode = operationalModeFlag;
+        super(DaoConfig.forClass("fxa", OperationalStdTextProduct.class));
+        this.operationalMode = true;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -1073,9 +1075,7 @@ public class StdTextProductDao extends CoreDao {
                     public List<AFOSProductId> doInTransaction(
                             TransactionStatus status) {
                         Session sess = getCurrentSession();
-                        Criteria crit = sess.createCriteria(operationalMode
-                                ? OperationalStdTextProduct.class
-                                : PracticeStdTextProduct.class);
+                        Criteria crit = sess.createCriteria(OperationalStdTextProduct.class);
                         ProjectionList fields = Projections.projectionList();
                         fields.add(Projections.property(CCC_ID));
                         fields.add(Projections.property(ProdNNN_ID));
@@ -1598,7 +1598,6 @@ public class StdTextProductDao extends CoreDao {
      * @return StdTextProduct, an
      */
     private StdTextProduct getStdTextProductInstance() {
-        return this.operationalMode ? new OperationalStdTextProduct()
-                : new PracticeStdTextProduct();
+        return new OperationalStdTextProduct();
     }
 }
diff --git a/localization/utility/common_static/site/OAX/alarms/DefaultSiteAlarms.xml b/localization/utility/common_static/site/OAX/alarms/DefaultSiteAlarms.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..38e0906aa9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/localization/utility/common_static/site/OAX/alarms/DefaultSiteAlarms.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
+<aapaCombined/>