Joint forces provide base security

by Pascual Flores
Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Public Affairs

7/1/2013 - JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- The Friday-morning rush hour traffic moved smoothly through the McGuire Gate, as members of the 87th Security Forces Squadron and Army Reserve Military Police checked the ID cards of the service members and civilians reporting for work June 14, 2013, here.

Approximately 45 reserve Soldiers performing annual training from the 313th Military Police Detachment from Las Vegas augmented the joint base security forces uniformed and civilian personnel that comprise Airmen, Sailors and Department of the Air Force police. The opportunity to observe and compare job skills and best practices could prove instrumental in the field of law-and-order for base security with Soldiers and 87th SFS service members working side by side.

"We are working with the 1st Battalion, 307th Regiment, 174th Infantry Brigade, which is responsible for training Soldiers for mobilization and the 78th Training Division that is responsible for training service members of the Guards and Reserve," said Senior Master Sgt. Steven Thompson, 87th SFS operations superintendent. "We have an agreement with the 78th T.D. and the 1-307th to help provide hands-on training."

Additional training support for service members of the Military Police is scheduled for January, 2014.

"We are here at the joint base for our annual training," said Sgt. Curtis Johnson, Military Policeman and native of Pico Rivera, Calif., currently assigned to the Las Vegas unit. "The job is mostly the same. It's pretty close across the board working with other law enforcement members."

The 313th MP Detachment is a law-and-order unit, with specialized skills in criminal, traffic and accidents investigations.

Airmen wanting to enter the security career field begin at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, in San Antonio. Air Force applicants undergo training at the Air Force Security Forces Academy which hosts a 65-day course that teaches security forces students basic military police functions including: missile security, convoy actions, capture and recovery of nuclear weapons, law enforcement and traffic direction.

"Gate duty is only a part of what we do here at the joint base," said Airman 1st Class Joshua Cruz, 87th SFS, a native from Hialeah, Fla. "We also respond to domestic disputes, minor and major accidents, alcohol incidents as well as other functions."

Security forces were formerly known as military police, air police and security police. On Oct.13, 1956, Air Police training transferred to then Lackland Air Force Base, Texas where it evolved into Security Police training and eventually became the U.S. Air Force Security Forces Academy. In 1966, the Air Police career field name was changed to Security Police and in April 1997, the career field name was changed again to its current name of Security Forces.

JBSA-Lackland is also the home of the Naval Technical Training Center for Sailors desiring to serve as Navy master-at-arms. Sailors there attend an intense seven-week course of instructions for training in areas of anti-terrorism, security forces fundamentals, weapons proficiency, basic law enforcement and more.

"I have been attached to the 87th SFS and have worked with Airmen, police officers from the Department of the Air Force as well as other MAs," said Petty Officer 2nd Class Randolph Oden, 87th SFS MA, a native from Metropolis, Ill.

The MAs rating was one of the original Navy ratings when it was first established in 1797 and later disestablished in 1921. Established in 1942, the Specialists Shore Patrol and Security worked shore patrol teams and ensured basic ship and shore station security. Its name was changed in 1948 to Shore Patrolman and it took on some of the official functions of the current MAs, only to be re-disestablished in 1953. Re-established in 1973, the MAs rating drew its members from Sailors cross-rating from other ratings at the Petty Officer 2nd Class level and above. The Navy Recruiting Command made available the MA rating a new contract mission for entry level applicants in 2003.

For Soldiers attending the U.S. Army Military Police School at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., the 10-week course covers five weeks of law-and-order training and five weeks of combat-support topics. Upon graduation, MP Soldiers will be technically proficient in policing activities, corrections and detentions operations, police and criminal intelligence operations as well as tactically proficient in combat support operations, area security, stability and civil support operations.

Congress authorized the Military Police Corps on May 27, 1778. It traces its beginning to the formation of a provost unit, the Marechaussee Corps, in the Continental Army, with a French term for provost troops.

Today, the military police, or MP corps, plays an important role in combat operations, providing escort for high visibility military assets and visitors, training and protection for local national security forces and assisting in the arrest of enemy combatants.

"We are here in a dual capacity," said Army Capt. Monty McCoy, 313th MP Det., commander. "We are actually providing law-and-order support to the host nation police force. The 87th SFS is acting as the host nation and fulfilling a United States Army Reserve Command training requirement because we are up for deployment and prior to deployment you have to go through a Combat Support Training Exercise."

Supporting commanders beyond the successful resolution of battle involves the law-and-order mission. The mission focuses on suppressing the chance for criminal behavior, thereby supporting commanders by ensuring a lawful and orderly environment, which units need to maintain discipline and combat readiness.

"We are conducting real-world training, performing garrison duty, investigations and patrols while working on our law-and-order certification," said McCoy.

Department of the Air Force police officers work closely with the 87th SFS service members. DAF police officers, who are former civilian police officers, typically attend the Department of Defense Police Academy in Little Rock, Ark.

First Army has tasked the 1st Battalion, 307th Infantry Training Support Regiment, 174th Infantry Brigade to conduct military police law-and-order prior to mobilizing and deploying Army reserve and National Guard Soldiers here. The most recent training was the first iteration, but the U.S. Army has identified numerous units to train over the next year. This new task establishes a training partnership between instructors from the Army military police community and the 87th SFS.

"The law-and-order mission has introduced both branches to considerations and training on a joint forces level. The training was an exceptional working experience which we have no doubt will continue to build stronger military bonds," said 1st Lt. John Cone, 1-307th TSB, assistant training and operations officer.

The training cycles for each unit are between two and three weeks, including a 'ride along' with 87th SFS law enforcement personnel as a culminating training event during the last phase. The last phase encompasses working with Air Force police on patrol, manning the entry points and gates and performing other logistical police positions and duties.