Aircraft need security? Get it FAST

Photo By Sharon Singer | Airman 1st Class Dustin Wiley, 379th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron Fly Away Security Team member, secures the area around a C-130, Oct. 6, in Southwest Asia. Airman Wiley, along with fellow FAST members, ensures U.S. Air Force aircraft are secure when they travel to areas with less established security. Airman Wiley is deployed from RAF Mildenhall, England, in support of Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom.  

10.13.2009

Story by Airman 1st Class David Dobrydney 

379th Air Expeditionary Wing

The majority of Airmen deployed to the 379th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron can be found patrolling the base or manning checkpoints, their boots firmly on the ground.

Others, however, find themselves deployed to provide security in the air as part of the Fly Away Security Team, traveling to some of the most austere places in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.

"It might be a dirt strip in the middle of the desert, with no perimeter, no fencing, no barriers," said FAST NCOIC Staff Sgt. Cody Stollings, deployed from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. "So if there's anyone in that area, they are the security for that aircraft and everyone on it," he said.

The team consists of traditional security forces Airmen who are tasked at home station to perform FAST duty during their deployment. In addition to pre-deployment preparations, they undergo a two-week course that places more emphasis on aircraft security and on how to interact with foreign populations.

Team leader Senior Airman Betsy Johnson, deployed from RAF Mildenhall, England, described how members are taught 'verbal judo.'

"You learn how to talk people down from an incident so they don't escalate," Airman Johnson said. "There are certain ways we have to deal with situations to avoid miscommunication with another culture."

"Basically, we have to be more of ambassadors for the United States," Stollings said. "When we're abroad the local people don't care that we're cops; they just see us as Americans."

The FAST training is derived from the PHOENIX RAVEN program, which is the Air Force's program for in-transit security for Air Mobility Command aircraft.

Stollings will assign two to four FAST members to each mission. When a tasking comes down, the Airmen will first gather and check their gear. After getting ready and checking ground intelligence for the area, they arm up and receive the aircrew's mission briefing before going out to the aircraft, said Senior Airman Dustin Walker, deployed from Bolling AFB, Washington, D.C.

FAST team leaders are responsibile to the aircraft commander as their chief of security to ensure the aircraft, mission, and aircrew remain secure. The differences be-tween career fields has no bearing on making sure the mission gets accomplished. "That's all put aside when it comes to the security of the aircraft," Stollings said.

Once the aircraft arrives in an area where security is sparse or nonexistent, the team goes into action. "We may land on an airstrip where we may be the only Americans for hundreds of miles," Airman Walker said.

Besides dealing with unusual situations, Airman Walker said the language barrier is one of the many challenges of being a FAST member.

"Sometimes people will ask us questions and we can't understand them and they can't understand us," Airman Walker said. "It turns out they were just asking if we needed fuel or not."

For a small team, the FAST can be very busy. "Some months we'll be swamped," Stollings said. For example, in August the FAST aided in the safe transport of more than 1,000 tons of cargo and, in September, they provided security for the transportation of nearly 800 passengers.

The success the FAST Airmen achieve on a daily basis in multiple countries is testament to their profes-sionalism, Stollings said. "The FAST members here are a special breed," he said. "We make sure we know our stuff because when we succeed, the mission gets done and America looks good to those who may have never met an American before."

• Date Taken: 10.13.2009
• Date Posted: 10.13.2009 03:37
• Story ID: 40009