Soldiers leaving AF gates

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  • By Tech Sgt David A. Jablonski
  • Air Force Print News
WASHINGTON --  A mix of airmen, civilians, contractors and new technology will replace Army National Guard military policemen now posted at Air Force bases.

The original agreement struck between the Air Force and the Army called for using the Guardsmen at base entry points for two years, enough time to find a solution to the Air Force security forces manpower shortfall, said Brig. Gen. James M. Shamess, Air Force director of security forces. But just one year into the plan the Army faced increased requirements in 2003 to support Operation Iraqi Freedom. Their operations tempo did not decline following the end of hostilities.

“We started with about 8,000 (Army National Guard) soldiers but in the second year they will only be able to provide about 6,500 on a continuing basis,” General Shamess said. “We’re going to fill that gap with volunteers from our Air Reserve Component, civilians and contractors.”

Other options being considered for longer-term solutions include converting manpower positions in overage career fields to security forces, and making other manpower changes within the security forces career field, General Shamess said. Technological solutions will also be applied to situations where they are more efficient than posting a patrolman. Finally, as a stopgap measure, augmentees will continue to fill temporary shortages.

The most important security measure, said General Shamess, is making sure the entire Air Force team works together to keep Air Force installations and people safe.

“Security forces can’t do it alone, everybody has to be involved,” General Shamess said. “As the Air Force chief of staff and others have said, ‘every airman is a sensor.’ That’s what we need to do. I see information every day where airmen, civil servants or contractors have called us to say, ‘something looks wrong here, can you check it out?’ In some cases individuals have been uncovered who we did need to check out.”

One example of this enthusiasm for team effort, General Shamess said, is a former augmentee who now serves as a security forces specialist.

Senior Airman Tyrone Brunskill began his Air Force career as an information manager working in an underground facility at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas. He discovered a higher sense of purpose as a security forces augmentee.

“It was very satisfying working with people,” Airman Brunskill said. “When you’re outside at your post, people always stop to tell you how much they appreciate you being on guard, protecting them. I didn’t have that same feeling in my regular job. I like being around people, talking to people, not sitting behind a desk.”

Airman Brunskill decided to be a permanent security forces team member when it came time to make a career job reservation.

“People still tell me they appreciate us and tell us how important this job is,” he said. “I have no regrets. It’s been a very good experience so far.”

Those kinds of comments are typical of what General Shamess calls a “phenomenal team.”

“What a great team we have … different kinds of people working together: our contractors, Reserve component, active-duty, Army National Guard and augmentees,” the general said.

Besides bolstering manpower, security forces planners will incorporate technology to reduce the burden on people and increase efficiency, General Shamess said. Some examples are explosive-detection equipment, long-range detection and assessment systems, and automated identification checks at base gates.

“Instead of having a human assigned to a patrol, we’ll use systems where we can see areas farther out than a person can, run the information back to a central location and respond as needed,” General Shamess said. “We’ll also use automated identification credentialing systems that will check people coming on base faster than an individual stopping a car and looking at an (identification card). It will compare the ID to an electronic database … in a matter of a second or two and let the person or car proceed. If the credential doesn’t check out, a barrier drops. If that person goes through the barrier, there will be another one. It’s a layered approach to boost our defenses.”

Whatever form these measures ultimately take, people should expect a credible check that allows the right people into the appropriate areas, General Shamess said. “We want to complicate things for our adversary so that he abandons his target, or we catch him in the act, or interrupt the act in progress,” he said.