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Squadron members provide security ‘intangibles’

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Allan R. Fiel
  • 375th Security Forces Squadron
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  At Scott AFB, I have the honor and pleasure of serving with several hundred of the finest Airmen and civilians I have encountered in my military career. These exceptional defenders work very hard day-in and day-out, often in arduous conditions, to provide a whole host of "intangibles" that set the conditions for mission accomplishment and success at the Showcase Wing.

They are the first faces one sees when entering the installation. They are the first-responders for thousands of alarms and incidents. They are the patrolmen providing safe conditions by issuing tickets to individuals for speeding, careless driving, and a whole host of moving violations.

Providing safety and security is an interesting business. Although we are always ready to serve, more often than not the defender's "red and blue" lights are the last thing most people want to see in their rear view mirror.

Defenders don't move or deliver short-tons of cargo, hand over newly renovated buildings to happy recipients, provide impressive network uptime, or serve excellent meals during recognition ceremonies. Not at all. A person can't see, touch, or otherwise objectively experience "safety" and "security," it is more of a feeling, a sense that they are safe. For a defender if a day passes and there are no terrorist attacks, no vehicle accidents, no unauthorized breaches in controlled or restricted areas and no crimes against persons, it was a good day. We delivered the "goods"-a day packed full of "non-events."

Providing these "non-events" is not easy, and we can use all the help we can get. If we are to be successful at delivering these safety and security intangibles, we need everyone's help in identifying opportunities where we can engage and mitigate the chances of an "event" occurring. If you see something suspicious, dangerous or illegal, please call it in (256-2223/4), as it might just make the difference between an "event" and a "non-event."

The world is becoming more dangerous and unpredictable, and it is incumbent on not only the security forces, but all installation personnel to stay alert for signs of an impending situation and take appropriate action, as the safety and security goal is for as many days as possible to be filled with "non-events!"