‘Good thing’ when nothing happens

  • Published
  • By Capt. Aaron Burgstein
  • 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) --  When nothing happens, it is a good thing, said Capt. Mark Martin, 386th Expeditionary Security Forces chief of anti-terrorism and force protection at a forward-deployed location.

Captain Martin is not referring to the day-to-day activities. Or rather, he is, in regards to base security.

With more than 2,300 third-country workers transiting the base weekly, force protection flight Airmen are charged with keeping the base safe from any insider threats they may pose.

The workers help fill many of the manual labor jobs around base, including construction, cleaning and cooking.

“We’re out there ensuring (the workers) are doing their job, that they’re not playing around or doing something suspicious, and that they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing,” said Staff Sgt. Angel Bethea, a force protection control desk dispatcher.

Generally, force protection consists of escorting all the people who transit and work on base. Those workers could be involved in any number of projects, such as construction in weather ranging from 130 degrees to projects where the temperature dips in the low 30s. It also includes indoor activities like concessionaires or cleaning.

The force protection job involves more than just watching them work. Besides the escort positions, Airmencan work in three other jobs -- the control desk, ringmaster and search pit.

“Here, the control desk dispatcher keeps track of 88 (force protection) people working (at) 19 different job sites,” Captain Martin said. “The ringmaster is the person who is taking info from the local national liaison officer and saying that (a) person is authorized to come onto the base. They’re checking IDs and taking any contraband, such as pens, notebooks and cell phones, those things that could be used to take and store data or pass along information.”

Before the workers come on base, they must pass through the search pit, an area where force protection Airmen search all incoming people.

“This is the first line of contact with the (workers),” Captain Martin said. “They search (them) and call back so others know who is coming, how many and what they have so nothing and no one disappears on the way into the base. We know what they have on them, and we’ll hold it for them until they’re done for the day.”

The job is not a normal Air Force specialty, but rather is farmed out across the Air Force as an additional duty, which results in force protection Airmen with little or no security background. However, that has not stopped the force protection flight from being named the best program in Central Command’s area of responsibility during a vulnerability assessment.

“Here, all but one of our people are nonsecurity forces,” Captain Martin said. “However, they are all Airmen first, and they’re trained and motivated to provide the critical threat protection and security escort which allows us to sustain the mission, build new facilities, and to take control of and mitigate any insider threats to this base.

“As a cop, I don’t sleep well knowing someone with no security clearance (like the workers) is being watched by only a camera,” he said. “Knowing that we not only use cameras, but actually have someone watching them as well lets me sleep at night.”

“If we weren’t out there doing our job, this base would be more vulnerable to threats,” Sergeant Bethea said. “(This deployment) has shown me the importance of this job. Without escorts, it would be easy for something to happen.”