Before I get started, a little background: on the Facebook page for "Former Langley AFB Security Police" today there was a discussion about how the Air Force had changed the name of "Security Police" to "Security Forces," and had merged the two career fields, Law Enforcement and Security, into one. I stated my opinion that I thought both was a mistake, and also stated that the Air Force seemed to be getting away from the Law Enforcement mission at its bases, choosing instead to farm that mission out to the DoD Police. Nowhere in my post did I say anything negative about my Security counterparts or the DoD Police - at least, I didn't think I did.
Well, I'm not real sure what I said that would have offended anybody, but apparently I did because John B. got his panties in a knot about it, and at one point stated that the Law Enforcement troops always "whined like little babies" when they had to work Security. Before I had a chance to reply I guess the moderator of the page saw what was coming, because by the time I got home from work today the thread was gone.
Those of you who know me know that I absolutely must have my say, so here it is in an environment where no one but me can delete it.
To John B:
First, let me say that I, for one, always found the old "Security vs. LE" thing to be incredibly childish, incredibly stupid, and a total waste of time; I also avoided getting involved in those conversations whenever I could because they always ended up with two or more people pissed off at each other, and that never accomplished anything.
I have always realized, even when I was a young airman in Law Enforcement, that each of the career fields within what used to be Security Police had its own unique set of challenges, and that each career field could be difficult in its own way. This was due in part to two of my roommates both being Security troops, so I heard about it first-hand every day; it also stemmed from the many, many, MANY times I got pulled from Law Enforcement duties to work Security because they were short manned for one reason or another. The longer I stayed in the Air Force the more I realized several things: One, the Security mission would always have priority over the Law Enforcement mission; two, whenever the Security side of the house was short-manned they would always pull from the Law Enforcement side to make up for the shortfall, and there was nothing you could do about it; three, whenever Law Enforcement was short-manned we would just have to suck it up and make due because getting additional manning from the Security side of the house was akin to finding the Holy Grail; and four, nothing was ever going to change 1 through 3. So it became an accepted fact of life among young Law Enforcement airmen that every now and then we'd have to put on our greens, pick up an M-16 instead of a .38, and go walk around a parked aircraft or stand on the Entry Control Point of a priority "A" aircraft rather than stand on the gate waving traffic or riding as a patrol rider on a base patrol. Basically, we were trading one shit duty for another, so in most cases it was pretty much a wash any way you looked at it.
You said that LE troops always "whined like little babies" whenever they got pulled for Security duty - well, look at it this way: when we enlisted we didn't enlist to be a Security troop. We didn't enlist to walk around a parked aircraft, or stand guard at the ECP of a priority aircraft, or walk a fence line in a priority aircraft parking area, or walk around the rope along the perimeter of the parking slot for a priority aircraft. We enlisted and trained to work Law Enforcement, because even something as mundane and boring as working a gate, writing visitor's passes, or doing building checks was a part of what we signed up for - it was, simply put, what we wanted and expected to do.
And to be honest, it wasn't anywhere near as boring as the duties of a young Security troop. I'll take standing out in the rain on the gate waving traffic over walking around a parking ramp in the rain any day, all day long, and twice on Sunday.
So sure, the LE troops would complain when they got yanked from LE duty to go work Security - and the seasoned, experienced Security leaders knew why, and knew how to deal with it. In the grand scheme of things it was nothing more than a minor inconvenience that would pass very quickly - like 8 hours later at shift change.
But in the 19 years I worked in Security Police, not once - not so much as a single time - did I ever hear a Security troop complain when he got assigned to work Law Enforcement, even if it meant standing out on the gate and waving traffic, which 9 times out of 10 it did.
Not once. I wonder why that is? You tell me.
You asked what duties LE troops performed during deployments, and then you answered your own question by saying they pulled "security" duties. Well, yes and no, mostly no, because when we deployed it was done not under the Law Enforcement mission, not under the Security mission, but under the Air Base Ground Defense mission. Security Police has always been and always will be the Air Force's infantry, and everyone - everyone - who joins the Air Force and goes into Security Police will go through Air Base Ground Defense training. I went through it, just like everyone else in my Law Enforcement class in 1975 did, and I'm pretty sure they still do. Once the group gets to where its going the mission will include the posting of sentries around the aircraft parking areas, to be sure, so in that small aspect they're performing security duties. But at the same time you'll have listening posts, observation posts, machine gun bunkers, and such that will be manned under the ABGD mission as well. But you'll also have a Law Enforcement mission if the base location calls for it, as we did in Saudi Arabia during Operation DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM. It was a small mission consisting of manning the main gate to the base and having a liaison NCO at the Saudi Police Headquarters, but we had one none the less.
So like I said, as for the security mission during a deployment, it's yes and no, but mostly no.
As for my comments about the DoD Police, sorry, but I just don't see where I said anything that anyone could in any way construe as being negative. All I said was that it seemed like the Air Force was turning its Law Enforcement mission over to them. Personally I think that's a terribly bad idea, not because the DoD cops aren't capable of it - they most certainly are - but because I don't think any civilian agency should have any responsibility for anything on a military installation. And that includes the farming out of CE duties to local construction companies as well.
Finally, you said that you didn't recall the Air Force ever trying to merge the two career fields before doing it in the early 1990s; well, they tried it once in 1976 and again in 1981, and it failed both times. I can't help it that you don't remember, but I most certainly do because I had just enlisted in 1975 and when I was told less than a year later that I may wind up being a Security troop, I was pissed because I had enlisted Guaranteed Job as a Law Enforcement specialist, and the last thing I wanted was to become a "ramp rat."
In closing, let me say this: personally, I always thought it was harder to be a good Security Flight Chief than a good Law Enforcement Flight Chief, because a Security Flight Chief had to deal with the constant bitching, griping, and complaining from all of the young Security troops about how boring their job was, about how much they hated it, and about how much they wished they'd enlisted as a Law Enforcement Specialist instead of a Security Specialist. The Security Flight Chief who could keep his flight organized, trained, motivated and ready on a constant basis was a thing of beauty to behold, and I always admired them.
Too bad you can't say the same about your former Law Enforcement counterparts.
And I think that just about wraps it all up.
IHC
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