SFS augmentees fill gap for deployed

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Erin Tindell
  • 366th Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office
MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho --  Patrolling the flight line, enforcing the base speed limit and monitoring security cameras -- it's all in a day's work of deploying to fight the Global War on Terror ... at home. 

Instead of deploying to Iraq or Afghanistan, Airmen with the Guard and Reserves "deploy" to home bases like Mountain Home to augment the thinned ranks of security forces squadrons. 

Since 9/11, units like the 366th SFS here rely on these augmentees to fill their ranks while the base's security forces Airmen deploy for up to six months, performing mission requirements the Army cannot fill. 

"The mission at home would die without our augmentees," said Staff Sgt. Richard Jackson, flight sergeant with the 366th SFS. "There are times when there are large gaps among the active-duty security forces Airmen. Our augmentees step in and become the law enforcement for this base when we're gone." 

According to Staff Sgt. Thomas French, a guardsman from Gowen Field in Boise, Idaho, the augmentees provide needed continuity for the unit while their active-duty counterparts rotate in and out from six-month deployments. 

"When SFS Airmen return from six-month deployments, they have to transition from riding in convoys and going on patrols to being a 'street cop' again," said Sergeant French, another flight sergeant with the 366th SFS who serves as a civilian police officer in Boise when not working for the squadron. "Once they're back to speed on how to defend a base, they're out the door again." 

Even though the Guard and Reserve augmentees support various home station installations, their units still deploy to the Mexican-U.S. border for patrols or downrange to the desert. 

"My group just went to Afghanistan," said Senior Airman K. R. Kirkendall, desk sergeant and guardsman from Gowen Field. "It was hard to decide whether to stay here or go with my unit. But I feel like I'm needed here and making a difference." 

Sergeant Jackson said there's little difference between the augmentees and those permanently assigned to the unit. 

"Sometimes there's a stigmatism of Guard and Reserves attached to active-duty units," he said. "I don't see these guys as Guard or Reserve. I see them as cops without badges. They have the same requirements and same taskings. There's no difference between us." 

Security forces also relies on help from other active-duty Airmen on base. 

"Right now, we have maintainers, medics, services Airmen and [more] who are getting a better understanding of what we go through on a [daily] basis," said Capt. Eric Carlson, individual mobility augmentee for the squadron. 

Before these Airmen become a security forces augmentee, they attend three days of training and receive a certificate upon completion. Once activated, they maintain the same level of requirements as other squadron members, from wearing the beret to working 13-hour shifts, the captain said. 

While some security forces Airmen wish they could learn about other career fields like their augmentees get to do, they still value the extra help. 

"For now our appreciation of others ... comes from our augmentees," the captain said.