PSD Airmen provide safe transport, protection to senior ranks

Published Sept. 15, 2009
By By Staff Sgt. Stacia Zachary
U.S. Air Forces Central combat camera

KABUL, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- They work 12- to 20-hour patrol shifts in temperatures ranging from an arid 100 degrees Fahrenheit to in bone-chilling weather dipping below freezing with the added hazard of snow, sleet and rain. They drive convoys through crowded city streets and a crumbling maze of buildings often riddled with improvised explosive devices. They are security forces Airmen serving as personal security detail charged with protecting U.S. military commanders.

Today's security forces Airmen are serving roles barely recognizable to those serving less than a decade earlier. The security forces Airmen of today deploy, on average, for six months at a time with a six-month dwell at their homestation in between. They serve in a number of capacities ranging from air-base defense to serving as PSDs protecting high-ranking officials to providing 360-degree security to provincial reconstruction and agri-business development teams, both on convoys and on quality assessments checks.

"(This deployment) doesn't compare to anything else because of the uniqueness of its mission," said Tech. Sgt. Robert Winner, the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan PSD shift leader for Army Maj. Gen. Richard P. Formica, the commander of CSTC-A. "As Air Force cops, there are no material assets we are responsible for. Here, we are charged with protecting human life."

The responsibility of the security-detail Airmen requires them to be available around the clock.

"This is quite literally a 24/7 job," Sergeant Winner said. "It isn't rare for us to work 20-hour shifts. You have to be ready to roll when the call comes in - it's just the very nature of what we do. Sometimes, as an added security measure, we leave without any notice."

"The tempo and the training for security forces Airmen have steadily increased," said Staff Sgt. Erika Gonzales, the Combined Security Transition Command - Afghanistan PSD troop commander for the PSD of Army Brig. Gen. Ann MacDonald, the CSTC-A assistant commander for Afghan National Police Development. "A typical deployment looks like a month of training and then six months at the deployed location."

For the Airmen performing the PSD requirement, they have to attend a one-month Army predeployment training course and be current on routine security forces training requirements.

"We go through two weeks of regional training at Camp Guernsey, Wyo., and then the two-week U.S. Army Protective Service Training course at Fort Leonardwood, Missouri," Sergeant Winner said.

Once the PSD team arrives in theater, they undergo intensive training to familiarize themselves with protocol and driving routes as well as understanding Afghan culture.

"There is a good amount of information to hand off from one team to another," Sergeant Gonzales said.

As a means of communication, the teams are equipped with secure, jam-proof radios and Afghan cell phones. They are armed with M-9s, M4s and MP-5s and travel throughout the city in up-armored SUVs and/or high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle.

In order to operate in within the city limits of Kabul and respect the resident's daily routine, the teams adapt procedures as a form of respect.

"We have completely changed our driving policy," Sergeant Winner said. "It is much more passive and Afghan friendly to the metropolitan community. It helps with the acceptance of U.S. troops in and around Kabul."

A challenge the PSD Airmen face as watchers is keeping those safe who do not have the same perception of potential threats.

"Finding middle ground is difficult when you have principles that are not security minded," he said. "We need to find a way to not hinder them while doing their jobs yet still keep them safe."

"As their watchers, we're the ones who are depended on to get [the senior officials] from point A to point B safely every time," Sergeant Gonzales added.

During the course of the U.S. involvement in the liberation of Afghanistan, there have been changes as Afghanistan begins to take control of their country again. For Sergeant Winner, who served in a PSD role from 2004 to 2005, he has seen some significant changes from his previous tour to present.

"There is a more organized atmosphere now," he said. "As the Afghans are taking control more projects, [the U.S. and coalition forces] are staying in the background more."

As PSD teams gear up to ensure the safe arrival of leadership, they are stepping outside of the traditional bounds of a security forces deployment. Daily, they are called upon to secure lives rather than assets.