Air Force May Soon Offer Service-Wide Mobile Alert System

Military.com, Feb 07, 2017, by Oriana Pawlyk

A team of 96th Security Forces Squadron Airmen prepare to enter a building during a shoot, move and communicate drill in June at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. (U.S. Air Force photo/Samuel King Jr.)

The U.S. Air Force may soon roll out a service-wide mobile alert system to notify airmen and employees of active shooters or other emergencies on base, a general said.

The service is pushing to set up the technology this year, possibly even within the next few months, according to Lt. Gen. John Cooper, Air Force deputy chief of staff for logistics, engineering and force protection at the Pentagon.

"We challenged ourselves: can we get an amber alert-type [system] on cell phones?" Cooper said during a recent Air Force Association breakfast near Washington D.C. "Before the end of this year -- I think in the next three months, but I'll say before the end of the year -- the whole Air Force will be set up regionally."

The Air Force, as well as the other branches,

have stepped up the use of social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter to get the word out to base personnel and families on emergencies and quickly developing situations.

But the direct messaging systems will be created to alert airmen -- and any local command posts in the same region, Cooper said. For example, in the National Capital Region, or NCR -- the area in and around Washington, D.C. -- military bases have already established a unified system, he said.

"In the NCR, the Navy had a program, the Army had a program, Air Force had a program and the Marines had a program. [But] if something happened on Bolling Air Force Base, [in Maryland] I could be driving to the B-X from my house and all the sailors would be jumping in a ditch, and I'd be jumping right into the fire," Cooper said. "We got that all fixed, so any command post in the National Capital Region…pushes a button and every military gets notified immediately."

The general also said the system shouldn't be monopolized by a major command, citing Hill Air Force Base, Utah, a base with two different active-duty commands -- Air Force Material Command and Air Combat Command -- as well as an Air Force Reserve Command unit.

"They're [all] the same Air Force," he said. "One person should push a button and everyone should get notified."

The Air Force immediately began increasing its protection services at various bases, implementing lower-end, but critical enhancements such as preventative fences and bullet resistant film for glass in the wake of the deadly 2015 shootings in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which killed four Marines and a sailor at a recruiting station and reserve center, Cooper told Air Force Times in July.

In 2016, the service implemented three more programs -- Unit Marshal, Law Enforcement Officer Safety Act, and Security Forces Staff Arming -- that allowed more airmen to carry firearms in the workplace.

"We basically set up a concept so an airman can arm themselves with their personal weapon until they get to the office, the worksite -- and from there at the worksite, at the base, the government will make it more secure," Cooper said Friday.

The security forces program enables more security forces members -- who have the appropriate Air Force specialty code and who work in staff billets at the squadron, group, wing or major command -- to carry a government-issued weapon while on duty with the approval of the installation commander, according to a release.

Unit Marshal, the newest program, gives commanders permission, with the installation commander's approval, to work with security forces to train more airmen and allow them to open carry an M9 pistol in their duty location, the release said. UMP is meant to act as "a blocking force," Cooper said. "Somebody comes into an office that's going to do something stupid a blue could shoot back and basically block until the [remaining law enforcements] get there," Cooper said.

Lastly, with the Law Enforcement Officer Safety Act or LEOSA, "Congress gave us legislation ... which allowed credentialed defenders to carry concealed weapons on base, and the Air Force used it; we actually paid for our airmen to get the credential but we didn't enforce it, [but] we kicked that in after Chattanooga," Cooper said.

The legislation applies to present security forces members as well as separated or retired members as long as they meet appropriate criteria cleared by the service. The 2004 federal act was extended to apply to military personnel in 2013.

The Air Force's programs already go hand-in-hand with policies stated in a Nov. 18 Defense Department directive approved by Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work that allow Defense Department personnel to carry firearms and employ deadly force while performing official duties.

"When you say high-consequence, I think our airmen," Cooper said. "Chattanooga. We just say Chattanooga and everybody on my staff understands that."

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.

701 MUNSS/Custody Unit ... is standing out!!

701 MUNSS/Custody Unit conducted a Police Week ruck march in 2016 and a reenlistment at the Bastogne War Memorial. The 701 MUNSS/Custody Forces was awarded the 2016 USAFE SF (GSU) Geographically Separated Unit of the Year award!

We love your AFSFA Security Forces Magazine over here. Keep it up!

PHILLIP B. FERRIS, Maj, USAF
Chief, Security Forces
701st Munitions Support Squadron
Kleine Brogel Air Base, Belgium

Well done Defenders ... keep up the good fight.
AFSFA

AFSFA Travis Bay Area Chapter 60SFS Monthly Defender Award
By Jim Downey, Travis Bay Area Chapter Chairman

Photos from left to right: Capt Matthew McGinnis, SSgt Bobby Alexander, SMSgt Jeffrey Wheeler, Ron Armenta (TBAC), Lt Col Joseph Quinn (Commander) and CMSgt Joseph Ilsley; and Defender Award.

Travis Bay Area Chapter Sponsors Monthly Defender Award

60th Security Forces Squadron with the support AFSFA Travis Bay Area Chapter has begun presenting a monthly Defender Award. AFSFA-TBAC members agreed to fund the project and 60SFS leadership established the award criteria. The Award is open to both military and civilian members of 60SFS.

TBAC member Ron Armenta and Chapter 2nd Vice Chair owns TCGEP Designs. Ron worked with 60SFS on the design featuring the AFSFA logo as the background on a 7” round piece of slate with edges relieved. The award showcases a red sheepdog on white background in the center with the award winner’s name across the middle. The award is presented at Commanders Call and provided a tabletop holder for presentation.

The first Defender Award presentation was made to SSgt Bobby Alexander. While Defenders are presented awards, decorations and medals throughout their career, squadron awards are significant reminders of outstanding contributions and duty performance recognized by peers and leaders of their unit.

Award submission criteria for 60SFS Defender’s Award: 1) Action photo of Airman or Civilian at work along with their rank, name, unit, office symbol, and hometown. 2) a write-up of 3-6 lines (bullets) about why the Airman, NCO, or Civilian deserves recognition. 3) Accomplishments are to be work-related only, no off-duty volunteer activities. 4) Include numbers and data points that make the nominee stand out from his/her peers.

Nominations are submitted by a supervisor to the individuals Flight Chief or Section Chief, who then submits it to the First Sergeant. The First Sergeant collects all nominations for each month and distributes them to the Section Superintendents for scoring. The top score is the Defender of the Month.

Military Law Enforcement Personnel Can Now Carry Their Own Guns onto Offutt Air Force Base
By Steve Liewer, Omaha World-Herald staff writer,
Feb 6, 2017

The Stratcom Gate at Offutt Air Force Base off Capehart Road in Bellevue. 

Certain current and former military law enforcement personnel now may carry their personal firearms onto Offutt Air Force Base under a new 55th Wing policy.

The rule took effect Jan. 11 after nearly a year of planning and consideration and was not tied to any specific security threat against the base, said Lt. Col. Ian Dinesen, commander of the 55th Security Forces Squadron.

“We wanted to make sure it was very well-thought-out,” Dinesen said.

The new rules are allowed because of the 2014 expansion of a then-10-year-old federal law, the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act, to allow military police with special permits to carry concealed weapons. 

A post on Offutt’s Facebook page said the purpose was “to enhance existing force protection measures and potentially mitigate active-shooter or workplace violence events.”

In recent years, military posts have been the site of several mass shootings, including a 2009 terrorist attack by Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, at Fort Hood, Texas, that killed 13 soldiers and wounded more than 30; a spree at the Washington Navy Yard in 2013 in which a gunman killed 12 people and wounded four; and a second Fort Hood shooting in 2014 in which a distraught soldier killed three and wounded 16.

It may be counterintuitive to civilians, but military bases — including Offutt — have strict rules against carrying weapons. Only on-duty security officers may bring them on base. No one, not even someone with a concealed-carry permit, is allowed to bring personal weapons onto base, Dinesen said, except to carry them to and from an on-base residence, or to a firing range. In those cases, they must be carried unloaded, inside a locked case.

The federal law originally was passed in 2004, in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, to create a sort of auxiliary force of highly trained weapons specialists who could respond quickly in such emergencies, said James Baranowski, manager of external and international affairs for the National Rifle Association.

The law, widely known by the acronym LEOSA, allows qualifying law enforcement officers to carry permitted weapons across state and other jurisdictional lines.

It created a sort of back-door form of “reciprocity,” an NRA-backed concept that allows holders of concealed-carry permits in one state to legally carry their weapons in every state.

“It’s certainly helped a lot of law enforcement officers, especially in states that are more restrictive of civilian carriers,” Baranowski said.

But the law was poorly drafted, he said. Some language in the law appeared to exclude military security officers.

Congress amended the law in 2010 and again in 2014, the latter time specifically allowing military police and law enforcement officers to qualify to receive the special LEOSA identification cards. 

Since then, the Army and Air Force have issued guidelines to allow their current and former security officers to qualify for the ID cards. The Navy, which also has administrative authority over the Marine Corps, has not.

Just over a year ago, the Air Force also gave base commanders authority to allow military LEOSA cardholders to carry their weapons onto bases. Baranowski said he thinks Offutt is among the first bases to do so.

The cards still aren’t easy to get. Only airmen or veterans with more than 10 years of experience as military security officers may qualify. They must go through stringent recertification training each year and pay a fee of up to several hundred dollars a year.

“You’re talking about people with quite a bit of service under their belt, even to be considered,” Dinesen said.

Cardholders also must secure their weapons and declare them at the gate before their vehicle is screened.

Even with the rules change, many major buildings and offices at Offutt will remain off-limits. 

“I can’t carry it right now, sitting in my office as the squadron commander,” said Dinesen, who has one of the permits.

Nationwide, about 1,180 current and former Air Force security officers have qualified for LEOSA permits. Another 200 have applied and are waiting for certification.

Dinesen said about two dozen have filed permits with his security office.

“There’s really not a whole lot of people carrying,” Baranowski said.