Base security is everyone's job Published April 21, 2011 By Lt. Col. Kenneth W. Ohlson 6th Security Forces Squadron Commander MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- As the Chief of Security Forces and Defense Force Commander for the 6th Air Mobility Wing I wanted to take a few minutes of your time to talk about your role in security of the installation. In the 6th Security Forces Squadron we have hundreds of trained Airmen (Active, Guard, Reserve and Civilian) to protect the base. We provide installation access control, flight line security, combatant command security, marine patrol, law enforcement and other security services. You might think with all those people to do all those missions that no one else needs to be concerned with security; I disagree; everyone has a role to play. Without going into the role everyone plays in all aspects of the installation's security, I'd like to focus on installation access control or base entry. Everybody that comes on board the installation is part of the security apparatus; what's your role? You might think that your only job at the gate is to ensure you have your ID ready for the gate guard and answer their questions. I agree, that's one of your jobs, but there's more. As a valid ID card holder your job is to vouch for the security of your vehicle. It's generally implied when you don't indicate to the guard that you have anything dangerous in your vehicle. Did you know it's illegal to bring weapons onto the installation? During random inspections, directed by the installation commander, we have found numerous weapons in vehicles. According to base policy, it's illegal to bring weapons onto the installation unless you are in route to your on-base residence or one of the base firing ranges. When transporting weapons onto the installation you must also inform the gate guard of the situation. Additional rules can be found in the bases Installation Security Instruction, or see your security manager. While you are vouching for the security of your vehicle, you are also vouching for the security of your passengers. As an ID cardholder, you are given a level of trust by the installation commander. He trusts that you, a valid ID card holder, will not sponsor unknown individuals onto the installation. When you bring someone onto the installation, whether it's in your vehicle or theirs, you are telling the base security forces you trust them and you would trust them to be on the base. At times we may ask for identification for your guests or even to get a base pass for them, but if we don't, we are relying on you to be the one who decides the person you are bringing on has a need to be here. If someone you don't know asks you to sponsor them onto the installation, your job is to report the incident to the Base Defense Operations Center at 828-3322. We have hundreds of trained Security Forces Airmen to secure the installation. We have thousands of people that access the installation every day. Even though we don't give each of those thousands a weapon and additional training, we still rely on each and every authorized person to play their role in base security.