A Special Presentation From Hahn's 50th K-9 Section!
History Of The United States Air Force's
Security Police & Security Forces 
MP...............AP...............SP .............SF
..1947............1948............1966..........Present
The Blue Beret
The Army has it's claim to fame;
The Airborne Rangers, the Green Berets.
The world knows the Navy Seals;
Life of Danger, Men of Steel.
The Corps have their elite too;
Recon Patrol, the Proud, the Few.
But when it comes to us, not much is heard;
We're just the Cops who guard the birds.
In Vietnam, through toil and strife,
We gave it all, our hearts, our life.
A page in history, a chapter in time;
We fought for freedom, yours and mine.
We stayed vigilant through cold and rain,
and bear the fatigue, hardship, and pain.
This piece of ground, we will defend,
Side by side `til the bitter end.
So fear not pilot, you can fly all day,
This base is guarded by the Blue Beret.
Author Unknown
UNITED STATES AIR FORCE SECURITY FORCES
The term Security Forces identifies the ground forces responsible for protecting the vital resources of the U.S. Air Force. Security Force members perform the military police function within the United States Air Force.
The Start
The position of Air Provost Marshall came into being in March 1943 at the direction of General 'Hap' Arnold, Commander In Chief, of the Army Air Force. When the US Air Force became a separate service on September 18, 1947, its Military Police, fourteen months later in Nov. 1948, became Air Police. At that time, the Air Provost Marshal came under the control of the USAF Inspector General.
The organization title became Director of Security and Law Enforcement in 1960, and the Air Police became Security Police in November 1966, then in 1997 it was changed to Security Forces.
Security Police
The Security Police function left the Inspector General's umbrella in 1975 and began reporting directly to the Air Force Chief of Staff. The title of Chief of Security Police then replaced the title Directory.
In 1978, the Security Police's headquarters moved from Washington, DC to Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, and became the Air Force Office of Security Police (AFOSP), a separate operating agency, again under the Inspector General.
In 1991, as part of an Air Staff reorganization, the Chief of Security Police was again realigned directly under the Air Force Chief of Staff.
The Chief of Security Police and the staff needed to work Security Police policy issues was moved to the Pentagon, Washington DC.
A little over half of the AF Security Police staff remained at Kirtland AFB as a field operating agency; the Air Force Security Police Agency (AFSPA). The AFSPA reported directly to the Air Force Chief of Security Police, and was comprised of four directorates:
Security
Law Enforcement
Training Resources
Corrections
Security Forces
January 1997, as a result of the Kobar Towers bombing, the Air Force's Chief of Staff directed a reorganization of the security forces, designed to improve the Air Force's force protection capabilities! The Air Force Chief of Security Police was redesignated the Air Force Director of Security Forces, and on October 31, 1997, the Security Police career field officially became the Security Forces career field.
The Air Force Security Police Agency (AFSPA), was reorganized in November 1997 and relocated to Lackland AFB Texas. The new organization, was designated the Air Force Security Forces Center, and consisted of three distinct units:
AFSF Headquarters
Air Force's Force Protection Battlelab
The 820th Security Forces Group
In 1997, the Headquarters, Air Force Security Forces Center (HQ-AFSFC) was commanded by the dual-hatted Air Force Director of Security Forces. HQ AFSFC who acted as an extension of the Pentagon staff, conducting staff studies dealing with a wide range of topics, including nuclear security; anti terrorism force protection; base defense; police services; combat arms; and security forces' training; equipment management; and military working dogs.
The Headquarters consisted of three divisions: Force Protection, Operations, and Corrections - with three geographical locations, Miramar, California; Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; and Charleston, So. Carolina.
Air Force's Force Protection Battlelab,
Activated June 13, 1997
The Force Protection Battlelab's commander in 1997 reported directly to the HQ AFSFC commander, but today, the Battlelab has its own budget, mission, and command authority.
The Force Protection Battlelab's mission is to rapidly identify and prove the net worth of innovative Force Protection ideas, which improve the ability of the Air Force to execute it's core competencies and joint war fighting.
The Battlelab rapidly measures the worth of new ideas and presents them to the Air Force's senior leadership for consideration, involving changes to the way the Air Force currently organizes, trains, equips, executes, plans and commands.
820th Security Forces Group,
Became Operational March 17, 1997
The 820th Security Forces Group was originally stationed at Lackland AFB, San Antonio, Texas, and was under the Security Forces' Center in 1997.
Today it is currently at Moody AFB, Georgia, along with the 822nd and 823rd SF Squadrons under the operational control of the Air Force's Special Operations Command; it provides a highly trained, rapidly deployable "first-in" force protection capability to any operating location in support of the USAF Global Engagement mission.
The 820th gives the United States Air Force a totally dedicated composite unit for force protection, drawing from many disciplines, not just security forces.
The unit is composed of personnel from the Security Forces, Office of Special Investigations, Civil Engineering, Logistics and Supply, Communications, Intelligence, Administration, Personnel, and Medical career fields, providing the capability to assess each threat and act accordingly.
Security Forces' Mission
The primary mission of the Security Forces units is to provide force protection, to help ensure operational readiness and to protect war fighting resources. This mission is accomplished through a system of base and area entry control points, vehicle patrols, foot patrols, and sensor detection equipment.
Security Forces units are located at 102 world wide locations, and assigned to seven major commands.
They also provide base law enforcement services, similar to those provided by civilian police agencies to their own communities. Their areas of responsibility include traffic control, crime prevention, and investigations.
Another key mission is to protect classified and sensitive information from unauthorized disclosure. This mission is done through several security programs such as information, industrial, personnel, and physical security, as well as systems security engineering management.
Personnel
Approximately 30,000 personnel are assigned to the Air Force Security Forces units worldwide. This figure also includes the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserves. The force is comprised of military ranks ranging from airman basic to brigadier general. officer.
Functional Specialists!
The Security Forces Career Field performs force protection duties. SF duties require the use of force, up to and including the use of deadly force. SF duties ensure combat capability through the functions of installation security, nuclear and conventional weapon systems and resources security, air base defense, law enforcement, information security, military working dog activities, and combat arms training and maintenance.
Security Forces participate in contingency operations. Personnel in this career field will be deployed and employed in sensitive or hostile environments created by terrorism, sabotage, nuclear, chemical, biological, or conventional warfare.
SF members perform the military police function within the Air Force. SF specialists and civilian security specialists manage the information, industrial, and personnel security programs. SF Combat Arms personnel provide small arms training to all Air Force personnel, and conduct routine small arms maintenance.
Security Forces Training
Officer and enlisted personnel receive initial skills training in ground combat skills, law enforcement, security, and combat arms at the 343d Training Squadron (Security Forces Academy), Lackland AFB Texas.
The 343rd also teaches a variety of other advanced and specialized courses. These include advanced officer and senior NCO symposiums courses, various weapons courses, traffic management and accident investigation, corrections, and a base installation security system course.
The 341st Training Squadron, also located at Lackland AFB Texas, trains military working dogs and handlers for all branches of the services, as well as the Federal Aviation Administration and other government agencies.
In Summary
In the current, post cold war environment of declining resources, Security Forces men and women face new and varied challenges.
The challenge of protecting the Air Force's operational assets, personnel, facilities, and information in this new world order is greater than ever! It requires security forces to create new force protection paradigms to ensure mission accomplishment in increasingly complex conflicts.
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