CFAO masters at arms, 18th SFS showcase inter-service operability

by Senior Airman Maeson L. Elleman
18th Wing Public Affairs

1/22/2014 - KADENA AIR BASE, Japan  -- An initiative that began several years ago, the U.S. Navy on Okinawa has been partnering with the U.S. Air Force for an array of duties and training ranging from flightline use to professional military education.

As the necessity for inter-service operability grows for mission accomplishment among the different U.S. Department of Defense branches, one group of service men and women on the island uses the partnership as a means of bolstering manning, capabilities and overall training.

"(Navy masters at arms) are fully integrated (with Kadena security forces)," said Petty Officer 1st Class Wesley Cooper, Commander Fleet Activities Okinawa U.S. Navy-18th Security Forces Squadron liaison and criminal investigator. "You'll see them at the gates; you'll see them in patrol cars; they go out to crimes; they pull people over."

Cooper, a Bradenton, Fla., native, said that for a few months at a time, Navy masters at arms from White Beach Naval Facility transfer to the 18th Security Forces Squadron here in an effort to more effectively train in a multitude of law enforcement roles and responsibilities. The ongoing mutual partnership better equips the Sailors while also providing additional manning for the Air Force.

"On White Beach, they aren't going to get the experience they need because it's just a port and that's it, so they don't get the law enforcement experience," Cooper said. "By bringing them up here to work with Kadena, they're able to get that law enforcement experience, and it prepares them for going to a bigger command."

Though the effort to integrate the two services on the island isn't mandated by higher headquarters, Cooper said large manning cuts in the services will eventually make service cohesion a necessity.

"The entire military's getting smaller," Cooper said. "The Navy's been cutting back for years, and now I'm starting to see where the Air Force is doing it too. Sooner or later, we're going to have to start working together ... because we're just not going to have the bodies to do any type of mission by ourselves."

Though the Sailors from White Beach receive an abundance of training from the Air Force, Master Sgt. Brandon Wolfgang, 18th SFS flight operations superintendent, said the inter-service operability gives the Air Force side of the house a big hand as well.
"These guys are a huge help," Wolfgang said. "They're always looking to get involved and to help out and to get experience. To me, that's huge. That says a lot about the relationship that we have and the respect we have for one another that we're willing to go out of our way, even if we're not specifically assigned. They're incorporated into every facet of what we do here on Kadena."

Wolfgang also said because the branches are so separate from one another, they can be compared to allied countries in terms of tradition, rank structure and procedures. Because of the enormous U.S. Marine Corps presence on-island, the Navy acts like interpreters to bridge the gaps between the two branches.

"We get a lot of assistance from them because they definitely help us out with Navy and Marines," Wolfgang said. "It comes in very handy to have the Navy right next to us, helping us with their rank structure, helping us with their terminology because they're tied in a lot more closely with the Marines than we are.

"A lot of the things the Navy does are very similar to the way that we do things, but there's also other things they do that are very different, and it gives us good insight," Wolfgang continued. "Any time we're dealing with the Navy or Marines, it's a huge help."
Whether they're checking IDs at the gate, securing aircraft or accompanying Air Force security forces to a crime scene, integration between the two services is a vital component to inter-service operability and the accomplishment of the everyday mission.