Team Mildenhall secures the base Published March 12, 2007 By Capt Joe F. Wildman and Master Sgt. Chris Robbins 100th Security Forces Squadron RAF MILDENHALL, England -- While coming onto the installation during the past few months, you may have recognized one or two of the Airmen at our gates, or patrolling out on the flight line, as the person who configured your hard drive or worked on one of the C-130's parked on the 352nd Special Operations Group ramp. Or they may have assisted you with your assignment paperwork at the military personnel flight, rather than the usual 100th Security Forces Squadron member. At RAF Mildenhall, the transformation to a much broader appreciation and understanding of force protection by those who are "non-specialists" is becoming reality thanks to a robust base security augmentation program. During the last 45 days, the 100th Security Forces Squadron has been augmented by Airmen and noncommissioned officers from throughout the wing and our partner units. Currently, 100th SFS has 23 highly-trained base personnel working side by side with them on the gates and on patrols. More than 65 Airmen and NCO's have supported the security forces this year in protecting more than 12,000 military and civilian personnel and $2.8 billion in resources. Security forces worldwide are currently deployed in 179-day deployment "bundles." Many of those deployments require our members to receive an additional 30 to 60 days of pre-deployment training at various U.S. Army installations stateside, before reaching their deployed location. It's now common for the 100th SFS to deploy a complete bundle of 80 security forces members, while the previous bundle is still deployed and not expected to return until 45 to 60 days later. During those times, the unit's military manning levels often fall below 40 percent left on station. The Global War on Terror has caused a large strain on all the armed forces, and the security forces worldwide have been tasked with missions that were historically conducted by other services. These missions, along with our normal AEF taskings, have driven changes in how we deploy our security forces. Gone are the 120-day deployments within a 20-month period. Now security forces worldwide deploy for seven to nine months at a time, and are sometimes eligible to be redeployed less than four months after they return home to their families. That translates to a less than 1 to 1 dwell time, meaning for every one day spent in theater, security forces spend less than one day at home with their family. While other career fields are experiencing similar stresses, most career fields in the Air Force are still in the much better position of being in a 1 to 4 dwell with the standard 120 day AEF "bucket." Today more than 4,100 security forces members are deployed at any given time, with 1,900 of them performing missions directly attached to U.S. Army units. Compounding matters further, the few months spent at home with families in "reconstitution" is spent working 14-hour shifts - equating to a 49-hour work week. That doesn't include the time spent in other official capacities such as military appointments, weapons firing, physical training or specialized training necessary to maintain perishable skills. Those on the mid-shift, in particular, must sacrifice sleep time or off days to complete paperwork at the MPF, finance or attend other mandatory briefings. Often our security forces personnel put in more than 60-hours a week. These stresses culminate in the need to train, arm and equip base personnel to augment us when our manpower falls below minimum requirements. The security forces members at RAF Mildenhall are very fortunate to have such supportive group and wing leadership. Not only have our senior leaders approved base personnel to assist us, but they have also personally supported us by checking identification cards at the main gate and the West Row gate on a regular basis. There is no greater morale boost for our young Airmen than to see base leadership, officers and senior NCO's, stand out in the rain and cold side by side with them helping them with their duties. And don't think that our security is degraded. Augmentees are provided with 25 hours of security forces training, then attend a one-day refresher course before being assigned to one of our flights where they work alongside our security forces members. The training is extensive and involves in-depth evaluations to ensure the personnel not only grasp the information, but can also perform the duties under any situation. All of our augmentees have gone back to their units with a greater appreciation of what the 100th SFS members do on a day-to-day basis at home station. Our cops also learn about other career fields by working closely with other base personnel. This in turn helps to break down barriers that may have existed between other units, and builds lasting bonds between individuals. Many outside of security forces see first hand the difficulties that lie with working within Force Protection. We are very grateful for the assistance our base augmentees provide us, because we couldn't conduct our mission without them. It's an area that never ceases to function, must be maintained literally 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, and must be done without fail. We ask that you personally thank them the next time you come through the gate for exemplifying "Service before self."