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IMA to contract force protection for U.S. installations

Army News Service

Release Date: 9/10/2003

By Beau Whittington

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Sept. 10, 2003) Since Sept. 11, 2001, National Guard and Reserve forces have been stretched to bulk up force protection efforts across the country. On the second anniversary of the terrorist attacks, their burden will begin to reduce -- at least for a while.

On Sept. 11, people entering Fort Detrick, Md., will see some shiny new badges - those of contract security forces. They will be the first wave of a contract security initiative Installation Management Agency officials say are designed to reduce Operation Noble Eagle requirements.

In coming weeks mobilized citizen-soldiers will turn their missions over to contractors at Forts Sam Houston, Texas; Bragg, N.C.; Huachuca, Ariz.; Myer, Va. and McNair, D.C. Walter Reed Army Medical Center, D.C. and Tooele Army Depot, Utah, will also become home for contract security personnel, said John Nimitz, agency force protection manager. Nimitz projected the eight installations will change over by the end of October. The Army will expand the program as funds become available, Nimitz said.

The question of "to contract, or not" began long before Sept. 11.

Congress passed a law prohibiting contract security at military installations in 1983. While there were some exemptions, there were few. The rigorous controls remained in place until 1999 when Congress eased some restrictions in the National Capital area.

They remained widespread until the Sept. 11 attacks spurred the Patriot Act of 2001. The act allowed the military to contract force protection efforts through state and local agencies.

The problem was the states were already maxed out. Supporters of the act forgot to consider local and state security agencies had enough problems securing their constituencies. Limited staffing precluded them from adequately supporting military properties.

To support growing force-protection needs since the beginning of the war on terror, military officials have mobilized some 23,900 National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers to shore up extended military police forces protecting Army facilities.

This further stressed local and state security staffs because many of the military police mobilized to protect Army facilities work for local and state police forces.

In December, the National Defense Authorization authorized the military to contract security through 2005.

"We see this as a window of opportunity to prove to Congress the Army can effectively support security through contracts," an Army spokesman said.

He described the decision as an "evolution" setting a stage for "much needed relief, even if for a short time."

Recruits for the security jobs go through some 160 hours of training to earn their badges, Paul Raggio said. The vice president of Chenega Technical Products said the Alaskan Native American company is the prime contractor for the first seven installations benefiting from the program. He described the training as a "two-fold" attack.

The first phase of the training is a 120-hour block of core requirements recruits need to provide force protection for Army installations across the country. Instruction ranges from physical training to the same 9mm marksmanship training required by military police.

The second phase is a 40-hour block on local requirements. In this block recruits learn the local procedures used by the Army Reserve and National Guard forces they will replace.

Two hundred thirty of the 320 recruits going through the first round of training at Forts Sam Houston and Detrick will be graduating within the next month, forecasts Raggio. Physical training, background checks and weapons qualifications led to the 90 washouts.

The Army will seek funds from the Defense Authorization Bill to expand the program in 2004. Officials want to expand the variety of sites in size and mission to learn if contract security is viable in a wide range of conditions.