Posted on Mar 13, 2014

A little over a month ago I was asked "how would I run a Security Forces Squadron?"

CMSgt (Join to see)

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I am in the Air National Guard, so things are a bit difference and perhaps my response is totally out of the realm of reality.  But I wasn't given boundaries; I was simply asked the question. I was asked the question (how would I run an SFS) after a colleague recently took over a, dare I say, "struggling" squadron.  I gave a few quick and dirty answers, some in jest, others not so much.  Later, as I was laying in bed that night, I couldn't sleep, so at about 0200 I got up and fired up my laptop and really thought about it. This is what I came up with... 

1.  "Credibility is currency!" I would have it on the
wall; I would make guys say it at guard mount. Credibility is finite. We earn
it when we contribute to the mission in a meaningful way. We earn it when we
provide a good product to our customers quickly. We earn it when we understand
the difference between bosses and customers. We lose it when we look or act
foolish in public. We lose it when we have conduct issues in our ranks. We lose
it when we give off attitude to anyone.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

<o:p> </o:p>

2.  Our first mission is a combat mission: The defense of the
base from enemy combatants both at home and abroad. We execute that mission
with aggression. Some turd rockets the deployed base, we go out there and shoot
him, exploit what is left of him, and leave him as a warning to the next guy.
We fight for intelligence because in defense, intelligence means survival,
intelligence is like oxygen for Defenders. We work with our CE partners to
harden the ever-loving hell out of the base. In CONUS, that mission never goes
away. We study events like Ft Hood and the Ft Dix plot and figure out how to
keep it from happening at our small ANG base. In the defense role, we are never
"not at war." We are
infinitely more concerned with the guy parking off the departure end of the
runway out on Perimeter Roadtaking pictures than we are over
whether SSgt Tentpeg is going 27 mph in a 25.<o:p></o:p>

3.  We are not the Army. We are not infantry. We have different
missions and different cultures. We will do OUR mission better than anyone. We
take lessons from ALL ground counterparts with good ideas. We steal ideas from
other services, other countries, and both the public and private sectors
because we cannot afford to be locked in to an obsolete dogmatic culture. We
have to constantly fight, to a man, to be technical and tactical experts in
combat defense and law enforcement. We want to know how the Israelis guard
Be'er Sheva Airbase. We want to know how the USSS and DSS provide physical
security for dignitary residences. We want to know what Army MPs changed at Ft
Hood after the shooting. We want to know how the CIA headquarters arranged its
ECP after its shooting in the 90s. We know that specialized Army ground units
carry their rifles down, and specialized Navy ground units carry their rifles
up, we KNOW why we chose to carry our rifles X and can explain it in a rational
way.<o:p></o:p>

4.  We know that balance is the most important part of security.
We are in the business of risk management. We want to execute security measures
that maximize juice and minimize squeeze. If our security keeps or delays authorized
personnel from conducting their authorized mission, we have failed. Procedures
are important, but results are deadly. Stopping a combat rescue team from
accessing their MH-60 to rescue injured Americans because one of them forgot
their RAB, even though you know his first and last name, sit next to him at the
chow hall, and see him 10x a day, is unacceptable.<o:p></o:p>

5.  We will keep our personal and professional conduct above
reproach. We are the sheepdogs; and predators in our ranks will be dealt with
in the harshest lawful way. <o:p></o:p>
6.  We will be the deadliest motherfuckers on the base. We have
to be. We will commit time, energy, and funds to training harder and smarter
than anyone else. We will know from our youngest Airman to our oldest Chief
that we can outshoot, out-communicate, and out-maneuver a well-trained enemy
and even an insider threat. We will be on the range, in the shoot-house, and
running realistic drills every single day.<o:p></o:p>

7.  We are a law enforcement agency with ALL of the advantages.
We have a helpful population and substantially more freedom of action to search
and seize. This will be a zero crime base. We will make ourselves credible and
approachable so that the base population WANTS to work with us and tip us off
to predators in their ranks. We will make this a safe base where people feel
comfortable walking around at night. We will educate the base population to
identify and report threats; harden themselves, their homes, and facilities
with something more meaningful than an annual CBT. We will create a herd
immunity. We will also steal innovative law enforcement tactics, techniques,
and procedures from any LE agency with a good idea – from the FBI to the Anytown
Police Department.<o:p></o:p> 8.  Image matters. We will set an example worth following in how
we wear uniforms, interact with our customers politely and professionally, and
carry ourselves with dignity. We will not have fat members because we have to
be able to outrun and outfight a committed adversary. Fat is not tactical!<o:p></o:p>

9.  No more “hoorah” or cheerleading. Our pride comes from the
fact that no one screws with OUR planes, OUR pilots, OUR secrets, OUR flight
line, and OUR base. We don't need a tattoo of a grim reaper mowing down the
Taliban on a Harley to know what we do is cool and important. We do what we do
so that OTHERS can go out there and deliver combat airpower without having to
worry about someone breaking into their home and raping their wife stateside.
We do what we do so that OTHERS can go outside the wire and then come home and
sleep without having to worry about a suicide bomber getting through the wire,
so they can go out there and do it the next day. It will almost always be a
thankless job. Anytime you want to try out for TACP, I will call their Chief
and you can take the first step; in the meantime do THIS job, and do it better
than anyone else in the world – because if someone finds a chink in our armor,
it is a strategic and likely catastrophic loss. <o:p></o:p>

10.  1,000 flutter kicks for time. Get there!<o:p></o:p>

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Edited 10 y ago

Posted 10 y ago

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MSgt (Join to see)

Posted 10 y ago

Can only like this once.. :P

I spent 5 years in Security Forces before crosstraining out and this is probably the best philosophy I've seen. It's got that common sense, grounded-in-effectiveness approach that Gen Welsh is looking for in the Air Force.

I like how you point out balance being important. A Security Forces Chief at one of my last bases actually had in his signature block "Proper security operations are inherently inconvenient to the public," (the presence of the quote itself violating another reg). We run into this in the comm world too; there's a point where you have to look and assess whether the additional measure is producing a greater gain than the loss of what it's affecting. Sometimes I think we miss that.

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SFC Robert Trodahl

Posted 10 y ago

With a little shifting of words we can use that in the Army!

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CMSgt (Join to see)

10 y

Sorry about the formatting, I copied and pasted from Word and this was my first time posting something.

Perhaps it has a tinge of "Army tone" because half of my TIS (20 years) was in the Army.

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MSgt (Join to see)

10 y

I tend to think of Security Forces as almost closer to being in the Army than being in the Air Force. My experience here on RP has kind of reinforced that.
I see a lot of the same approaches by Army NCOs that I did in Security Forces. When I crosstrained out, I saw a completely different leadership approach used in my new career field.

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A little over a month ago I was asked "how would I run a Security Forces Squadron?"

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