Story by: Senior Airman Bryan Swink
Posted: 06-20-2019
Photo By Senior Airman Bryan Swink | Tech. Sgt. Ashley Davin, 136th Security Forces Squadron defender, conducts a random vehicle search on Ramstein Air Base, Germany just before midnight June 18, 2019. Davin and 33 other Airmen from the Texas Air National Guard are embedded with the local security forces units and German Polizei to gain first-hand experience performing security forces duties while on an active-duty installation. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Bryan Swink)
Training is the focus for 34 Airmen from the 136th Security Forces Squadron who embedded with the local security forces units at Ramstein Air Base, Germany June 15, 2019.
The Texas Air National Guard Airmen will be in-country working hand-in-hand with their active-duty counterparts and local German polizei gaining real-world experience at one of the largest and busiest U.S. Air Force installations in the world.
“This is an incredible opportunity we have for the Airmen to get a chance to put into practice many aspects of our career field we aren’t able to do on a constant basis while at home station,” said Senior Master Sgt. Craig Alonzo, 136 SFS operations superintendent. “There is only so much we can do at (Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth) since it is a Navy-led installation. This gives our Airmen an opportunity to gain first-hand experience with the host nation and active-duty Air Force to put their training into practice.”
Security Forces personnel are the Air Force's first line of defense and it is their job to maintain the rule of law on all Air Force bases and installations, according to af.mil.
The Guardsmen will be conducting various duties within the security forces career field, such as working sentry at installation gates, performing patrols and perimeter checks around the installation and conducting law enforcement practices around the base and local community.
Operating in a real-world environment is a first for many of the security forces Airmen who have only been in the career field for a short time.
“We occasionally assist with the Navy at our gate at (NAS JRB Fort Worth), but I’ve done that twice in the three years I’ve been with the unit,” said Senior Airman Preston Tipton, 136 SFS defender. “This is first time I’ve actually put my training and knowledge to the test in a true operational environment.”
The group is divided between two security forces units, the 86 SFS which services RAB and the 569th U.S. Forces Police Squadron which services the military housing community at Vogelweh Military Complex. Each Airmen is assigned to one of three eight-hour shifts at his or her specific location.
RAB serves as headquarters for U.S. Air Forces in Europe and is also a North Atlantic Treaty Organization installation. It’s in the German state of Rheinland-Palatinate and is part of the Kaiserslautern Military Community. In total, the KMC is comprised of 13,000 military members, 9,000 Department of Defense civilians, and their more than 25,000 family members. The KMC also employs more than 6,000 host nationals. When combined with military retirees and their dependents, the KMC has a population of more than 54,000 American citizens, making it the largest concentration of Americans outside the United States.