San Antonio, Texas. (July 22, 2024): A continuing challenge for the Air Force is how to be welcoming to the public while protecting military bases against all manner of modern threats. In this photo by Brian Boisvert, Senior Airman Jackson Morrow, a patrolman with the 802nd Security Forces Squadron, verifies a visitor’s base-access pass at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. The base receives and scans base-access authorizations for approximately 36,000 vehicles and pedestrians each day and turns away approximately 51,000 unauthorized visitors annually. Air Force officials must strike a careful balance between granting greater access to the public and the risk of attacks on facilities and personnel.
This delicate task is performed daily by Air Force Security units like the 802nd who ensure the safety of people and property. They guard against terrorist attacks and infiltration by bad actors while maintaining essential law enforcement services. These include many of the functions of civilian police agencies like conducting criminal investigations, interviewing witnesses, and arresting suspects. They also patrol the base around the clock ready to respond to any emergency. Unlike their civilian counterparts, military security must guard heavy weaponry, including nuclear sites, and America’s most sensitive installations.
To become an Air Force Security Specialist, candidates must have a clean criminal record and no history of personality disorders. They must also qualify to receive a Secret security clearance, be of high moral character, and have respect for the law. Airmen must pass 7.5 weeks of Basic training followed by an additional sixty-five days of advanced coursework at the Air Force Security Forces Academy at Lackland, Texas.
Here students learn basic military police functions including missile security, convoy operations, criminal law enforcement, and directing traffic. Future police officers are taught Military law and the importance of protecting the rights of individual citizens. The course also teaches non-lethal means of subduing subjects like using pepper spray or how to use pressure points on the body to stop resistance. Once they graduate, these highly skilled officers will be stationed at air bases all over the world.
Air Force Security Specialists strike a careful balance between base security and openness to the public they protect.