Force protection: It takes everyone to provide safety, security

  • Published
  • By Karen Abeyasekere
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, U.K. --  "A lot of people think it's going to happen to the next guy - but the next guy could be you!"

Force protection is all-encompassing, and deals with everything we do in our normal day-to-day activities as a military member, according to Master Sgt. Troy Blackburn, 100th ARW installation anti-terrorism officer.

"We need to be concerned about everything, from home security to what's being delivered to your house (mail security), driving while on the road (travel security), to actions here on the installation," he said. "The bottom line is that force protection is a broad umbrella, and anti-terrorism falls under that umbrella, as do these other aspects."

"The way I look at force protection is this: there are measures and steps that all personnel must take to reduce their chances of becoming a target," said Master Sgt. Tracy Carpenter, 100th ARW installation anti-terrorism officer. "We should all look out for things we don't think commonplace and we don't normally take notice of; ask yourself, 'Why has that person asked me that question?' or, 'Why is that vehicle parked there?' - it's just having an insight into what could possibly go wrong if someone wanted to actually do you harm, and taking an active role in mitigating those risks. Force protection goes back to taking measures and steps to increase survivability."

Sergeant Blackburn added these include individual protective measures which everybody should be taking; questioning things that are unusual or suspicious.

"It also gets even bigger, because there are certain installation-specific measures that are in place to provide protection for the entire base, no matter whether you're a military member, civilian or dependent," he said. "The bottom line is that it comes down to safety and security. If we didn't have a force protection program, it would lead to situations like we've seen in the past; the driving factor behind force protection is (the bombing of) Khobar Towers (in Saudi Arabia, in 1996) and the U.S.S. Cole incident in 2000.

"We look at (Sept. 11) being an issue - that was mainly towards New York City and the civilian population, but from a military aspect, (the terrorists), did impact the Pentagon. So those are the types of things that are out there," said Sergeant Blackburn. "There have also been incidents where military aircraft have flown into airfields that weren't secured, and people were stowing away on those aircraft. That could potentially impact the mission of that aircraft."

The anti-terrorism officer added that without force protection, people wouldn't be out there looking for these things, providing safety and security for everybody.

"It's not a security forces-specific program," he said. "Realistically, security forces can't be everywhere, on and off the installation, 24/7 - it's other people's 'eyes and ears' which tell first responders something is going on, and helps us provide the proper security measures."

Random Antiterrorism Measures - more commonly known as RAMs - are managed by the antiterrorism/force protection office, and are performed on a daily basis, both by them and by individual unit RAM monitors. They're designed to change the base's posture and normal patterns of behavior, and can be anything from searching cars to checking IDs.

Combined with exercises, RAMs are used to stay proficient in everything we do, and to ensure that if the time came when we had to act, then our response would be second nature, said Sergeant Carpenter, explaining that it isn't just security forces who exercise, but the entire wing, including civil engineering, emergency management, and many other units around base.

"Everybody needs to be aware of their surroundings," said Sergeant Carpenter. "It doesn't matter who you are or what installation you're at - you could be the youngest child or the oldest adult. But if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time, given the nature of people who want to do us harm, you could end up as collateral damage during a terrorist attack.

"You can't live in a bubble," he said. "The focus is not on 'there is danger lurking around every corner.' However, there is a majority of personnel walking around with blinders on, thinking, 'it won't happen to me - it's going to happen to the next guy.' But 'the next guy' could be you!"

For more information on force protection, call the AT/FP office at 238-3127 or 5431.