Military Police (Aviation) and Air Base Defense Battalions The USAF Security Forces lineage can be traced to its beginning in WWII with the German
blitzkrieg. Blitzkrieg relied on swift attacks by land and air. One of the tactics employed by blitzkrieg was the use of paratroops and airborne forces to capture, or destroy in advance, air bases. A key turning point in air base defensive thinking came with the loss of the
Battle of Crete to German forces and capture of the British air base at
Maleme in 1941. This single action led then Prime Minister
Winston Churchill to study British air base defense policy, and in a condemning memo to the
Secretary of State for Air and to the
Chief of the Air Staff dated 29 June 1941, Churchill stated he would no longer tolerate the shortcomings of the
Royal Air Force (RAF), in which half a million RAF personnel had no combat role. He ordered that all airmen be armed and ready "to fight and die in defense of their air fields" and that every airfield should be a stronghold of fighting air-ground men and not "uniformed civilians in the prime of life protected by detachments of soldiers." Churchill's directive resulted in formation of the
RAF Regiment. On 12 February 1942 the United States adopted the British air defense philosophy. The Army Chief of Staff, Gen.
George C. Marshall, approved the allocation of 53,299 African-Americans to the Army Air Forces with the "stipulation that air base defense 'for the number of air bases found necessary' be organized and that 'Negro personnel' be used for this purpose as required." This order formed the
Army Air Forces (AAF) air base security battalions in June 1942. Units were deployed throughout the European, Asian and African theaters and designed to defend against local ground attacks. These units were armed with rifles, machine guns and 37mm guns.
Air Police with an airman in 2019 Police Week Retreat Ceremony On 2 January 1948 the Military Police were reformed into the Air Police and established the Air Provost Marshal. Immediately twenty-two military police companies were predesignated Air Police squadrons, however the term Air Police did not come into full usage until November 1948. The transfer of personnel fully from the Army to the Air Force was supposed to be completed by December 1948, however it was not fully completed until 1953. In April 1952 Army grade titles and MOS designations were replaced with Air Force AFSCs. In June 1950 the Air Force began urgent operations focused on air base defense with the outbreak of the
Korean War. A buildup of ground combat forces began. The center of this buildup was the expansion of the Air Force Air Police from 10,000 in July 1950 to 39,000 in December 1951. Still, one year into the war the Air Provost Marshal reported that "the Air Force is without policy or tactical doctrine for Air Base Ground Defense." In haste, Air Police serving as the cadre of this force were outfitted with armored vehicles, machine guns and recoilless rifles. Air base defense was officially implemented by Air Force Regulation (AFR) 355–4 on 3 March 1953. AFR 355-4 defined air base defense "as all measures taken by the installation commander to deny hostile forces access to the area encompassing all buildings, equipment, facilities, landing fields, dispersal areas and adjacent terrain." However, the regulation did not include provisions for sustained ground defense operations. Performance of this mission fell to the provisional base defense task forces to be organized and equipped like infantry. It was the
Strategic Air Command's (SAC) October 1952 edition of the SAC Manual 205-2 that rejected the notion that the USAF's ground defense mission conflicted with Army functions. SAC officials felt that success of the Air Force mission might require point defense elements that the Army could not afford to protect, much less have the Air Force rely on the Army to come to the rescue. After the Korean War, General
Curtis LeMay had the Air Police begin the Combat Arms Program, to better train airmen in the use of weapons. In November 1971 the first female airmen trained into the law enforcement specialty, and in November 1976 100 female airmen were trained as security specialists. Although the female security specialist program was soon after shut down, they have the distinction of being the first women permitted into any combat role in the entire U.S. Armed Forces. Law enforcement specialists, who had excelled in their career field, could be selected as criminal investigators and attend Military Police Investigations training at the 3280th TCHTG OLA Air Force Liaison at Ft. McClellan, AL, or attend the Office of Special Investigations basic agent's course at Bolling AFB, Washington DC. From 1981 to 1989 the Security Police were responsible for protecting the USAF's ground launched cruise missiles in Europe, providing security for them during the height of the
Cold War. In 1983, during
Operation Urgent Fury, Security Police forces were among the first on Grenada, responsible for securing runways and POWs. In January 1985 women were finally permitted to enter the security field - the first since 1976. In August 1990, Security Police were deployed to Saudi Arabia as a part of
Operation Desert Shield, where they were responsible for guarding airbases, dignitary support, and counterterrorism. In August 1995 Air Base Ground Defense Training was moved from Fort Dix back to Camp Bullis, and control was shifted from the Army back to the Air Force. During
Operation Joint Endeavor in Bosnia, Security Police forces conducted convoy operations and acted as a peacekeeping force. In 1996 the
Khobar Towers Bombing occurred, with 19 airmen killed and 260 injured. Security Policemen SSgt Alfredo Guerrero, SrA Corey Grice and A1C Christopher Wager received the
Airman's Medal for their actions prior to and after the terrorist attack.
Security Forces on the flight line in
Iraq, 2009 In response to the
Khobar Towers bombing, the Air Force reevaluated how the Security Police was organized, and came to the realization it could not afford to have only a few specialize in the security aspect of the mission. On 31 October 1997, the Security Police became the Security Forces, with all individual specialties being merged into one Security Forces specialist AFSC. The Security Forces brought back the principles of Safe Side, transforming the Security Forces into a combat force. In 1997 the Air Force activated the
820th Base Defense Group, a
Force Protection unit based at
Moody Air Force Base,
Georgia. The unit is a trained force protection unit of 12
Air Force Specialty Codes with an
airborne capability, and is intended to serve as a quick reaction force, capable of deploying anywhere in the world. Air Mobility Command also activated the Raven program, which attached Security Forces specialists to its aircraft to provide on-site security in hostile or remote environments. After the
9/11 attacks in 2001, Security Forces prepared for additional attacks and combat operations, both in the United States and abroad. On 16 December 2001, airmen with the 786th Security Forces Squadron deployed to Manas International Airport, Kyrgyzstan, to provide security while the airbase was under construction, to support U.S. operations in Afghanistan. Three months later the 822nd Security Forces Squadron assumed the role, and conducted patrols outside the airbase to deter attack and build relations with local villagers. These companies were not divided into flights, but rather platoons, with the first, the 2632nd Aerospace Expeditionary Force Transport Company, deploying in April 2004. Some Security Forces specialists were also attached to Army and Marine infantry units to provide either manpower or military working dogs. patch
Specialized Units - Emergency Service Teams; - Phoenix Raven; - Stinger Missile Program; - The
Elite Guard; - Close Precision Engagement (CPE) teams; - U.S. Air Force Tactical Response Force (TRF); -
Deployed Aircraft Ground Response Element (DAGRE); - Security Forces Marine Patrol Flight; - E4 B NEACP/NAOC Duty; - Military Working Horse Units; - Military working dog teams; - Base Honor Guard. ==Uniform items==