AF, Army unite to protect Transit Center

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Robert Barnett
  • 376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
TRANSIT CENTER AT MANAS, Kyrgyzstan (AFNS) --  When faced with a shortfall in manning, an Air Force reservist here devised a plan to join forces with the Army to keep security operations on par.

"Most of the time, a singular service component is given the mission of base security," said Master Sgt. Brian Nicoletti, the 376th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron Transit Center Access Point NCO in charge of midshift. "That service component will own every part of that; main gate, entry control points, pass and registration, all of it."

At the Transit Center at Manas, the Air Force controls the installation and the exterior perimeter.

"If anything stupid is going to happen," he said, "it'll happen here at the main gate, and we're knife-fighting distance from it."

On a regular basis, the post performs enforcement action and over time have had significant increases in occurrences ranging from petty theft to major crimes, Nicoletti said.

Simultaneously, as the work load increased, Nicoletti's workforce decreased due to his Airmen leaving on forward missions and job reassignments. He found a way to fill in the gap by joining forces with Army 1st. Sgt. Thomas Stribling, the NCO in charge of 304th Military Police Battalion, Det. 5.

"I proposed the idea that he send some of his people over and assist us because we are really thin on nights," he said. "So two senior NCO's came together ... and we made it happen."

This is the first time in the transit center that two branches of service combined to protect the main gate, Nicolletti said.

"We ran it through his command and my command," he said. "They thought it was an outstanding idea. We had the very first detachment of four Army military police officers come to my guard mount."

The Air Force security forces unit was happy to incorporate and share their professional philosophy with the Soldiers who joined them.

"Having Army augmentees fill in at certain critical posts shows the true measure of our partnership," Nicoletti said. "Because of them, I was able to tell the commanders there is no problem with security; everybody is able to sleep safely at night. We've fostered a base-wide cooperative effort between the Air Force and the Army."

Nicoletti said he was impressed with the Soldiers and how well both groups got along.

"I like it," said Senior Airman Tanya Crooks, a member of 376th ESFS. "We have our perceptions on what the Army is like, and they have their opinions of what the Air Force is like. We learn from them and they learn from us. It's also cool because it helps us break the stereotypes."

It was also a chance for Army and Air Force to make connections through each other's partnership.

"It's great," said Army Sgt. Standford Reese, from the 304th Military Police Battalion Det. 5. "I've had a lot of fun and learned a lot about what the Air Force does out here. It's really cool. I've also been making friends out here."

Enabling his Airmen and Soldiers to succeed, Nicoletti gives all credit where he believes it's due.

"I'm not the hero in any of this," he said. "Those people out there executing the mission, they're the heroes. My stripes don't belong to me. They belong to the troops. I implicitly trust the troops that have been assigned here."