Ramstein AT team lauded as best in DOD

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Edward Drescher
  • 435th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (USAFENS) --  Providing antiterrorism and force protection management for the largest support wing in the Air Force is a task within itself. But on top of that, the 435th Air Base Wing antiterrorism and force protection team is responsible for six bases, three wings, seven groups, 24 squadrons, 15 geographically separated units and 48,000 personnel, who all reside in an environment with a significant threat level.

Despite the large area of responsibility, this team has spearheaded all operations and hasn’t flinched; and that’s just one of the reasons the AT/FP team was recently lauded at the Department of Defense level for having the best Antiterrorism in 2005.

“I think the scope of what the program is and the environment we are in were the keys to earning the award,” said Capt. Matthew Barido, officer in charge of the AT/FP program, whose team beat out nine other AT/FP programs within DOD.

On top of a large AOR and direct support of our efforts against terrorism, the team was also responsible for managing more than $42.1 million for Ramstein and 27 GSUs. They obligated more than $19 million for force protection initiatives and oversaw $31 million in construction projects.

These projects and some extraordinary training efforts allowed this unit to take significant steps forward over the past four years.

In 2001, this same unit was noted for having 19 vulnerabilities during an inspection by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

“We were still a young program at the time, and we had a lot of growing to do,” said Staff Sgt. Sharlene Daniels, AT/FP staff NCO.

Nearly four years later, during another DTRA inspection, the unit reduced its vulnerabilities by 78 percent (from 19 to 4 percent), said Sergeant Daniels. This improvement can be directly attributed to the unit maximizing its resources and implementing many force protection enhancements.

As one of the force protection enhancements, the unit recently integrated the Installation Access Control System, and put full effort into getting more than 35,000 military personnel registered for the system in less than three months, she said. Using this system, personnel manning base gates scan the bar code of a DOD identification card or installation pass using a hand-held personal digital assistant. The PDA accesses information in a database, telling the gate guard whether or not the cardholder is allowed onto the installation.

The unit also implemented a residential security survey program, said Sergeant Daniels. This program provides guidance and assesses risks for the nearly 10,000 personnel living on the economy.

The award is hard won and is definitely a team effort, said Captain Barido.

“There are also people that have come before us that made this happen,” he said. “This is really a thankless job, and (the teams’) hard work finally paid off.”