The White Falcon - 15.01.1993, Blaðsíða 7

‘We’re not here to just write traffic tickets

Story and photo by
J03 (SW) Andreas Walter
They stand watch throughout the night, re-
gardless of the weather and the Travel Con-
ditions and manage to ensure that customs
regulations are adhered to when you pack out
at the end of your Keflavfk tour. They are the
87 men and women who make up the Naval
Air Station (NAS), Keflavfk’s Security De-
partment.
The Security Department, headed by LCDR
Stephen M. White, enforces U.S. and Ice-
landic customs on base, patrols the streets and
provides physical security. “The Security
Department here operates similarily to the
one at my last command, with the one major
difference being the fact that we work to-
gether with the Icelandic policemen,” said
White. The department is comprised of six
separate but cohesive divisions.
“The divisions include Customs, Patrols,
Physical Security, Investigations and Secu-
rity Administration,” said MAC Frank Cherry,
the Assistant Security Officer. “Our mission
is to protect the lives of the military and
ivilians through the use of the Uniform Code
If Military Justice. Public safety is our para-
mount job,” he stressed. Navy Security
works together with the Air Force’s 4557th
Security Police Squadron in matters where
either department needs the assistance of the
other. The 4557th concentrates its efforts
primarily on physical security.
The Customs Division, in the hands of
EMC Daniel Banayo, is responsible for en-
forcing the U.S. and Icelandic customs on
base. The personnel of Customs are dele-
gated with the authoritry to spot-check lug-
gage while still in the airplane and to brief the
personnel about customs restrictions and
regulations. They are responsible for check-
ing out the members of the flight squadrons
that rotate to Keflavfk every six months.
“When the ‘Rotator’ flights come in, we are
the first people the new arrivals to the island
see when we read them a series of customs
declarations. When a person leaves the is-
land, we are among the last people they see,”
said Banayo.
In addition, when a person is packing - out,
Security is there to make sure that no illegal
substances, firearms, or government property
is packed in the household goods shipment.
Customs inspectors do not require probable
cause to confiscate contraband, including ex-
amples of pornography, drugs or weapons of
any nature. Contraband items, as defined in
the Uniform Code of Military Justice, will be
seized and not returned to the owner.
Another twist to their power to control out-
going shipments, is the use of drug dogs to
sweep the shipments for drugs. Two military
working dogs, handled by three security po-
licemen, are currently maintained by the
department. The dogs are used on a rotating
basis, when random checks of barracks rooms
and other buildings are completed.
According to BU2 Robert Taylor, a mem-
ber of Security’s Customs Division, “All ivory
that personnel bring from the U.S. must be
registered with Security. This is a rule we
enforce stemming from customs regulations. ”
“We have approximately 200 personnel to
The Patrol Division of Navy Security responds to accidents daily in the winter months.
check out when a squadron departs, that in-
cludes clearing their paperwork and making
sure that they are abiding by all the customs
regulations,” said BT2 Lany Kennedy, one
of the customs inspectors. They guard against
the importation of drugs and weapons. If an
aircraft of a foreign country is on the ground
for more than three hours, the Security De-
partment provides guarding.
The duties of the Security Department
extend to lending the Fire Department a help-
ing hand also. “When a suspected arson is
committed, Security uses its Investigations
Division to assist,” said IM1 Brian D. Marg-
erum, section leader for the Patrol Division of
Security.
The Patrol Division is in charge of guard-
ing the gates of NAS, and providing the
vehicular patrols that cover the base on a 24-
hour basis to enforce traffic regulations which
include travel conditions. “A person who
ventures out in their car in Travel Condition
E-A poses a danger to himself as well as
everybody else,” said Cherry.
MM3 Noah Churchel, who juggles gate
guard duties and patrolling, said, “We stand
12-hour shifts that alternate monthly. The
hours are from seven to seven.”
According to Margerum, the duties of the
patrol division include, but are not limited to
protecting the safety, health and welfare of
the personnel living on base.
“We accomplish these tasks with the assis-
tance of the Icelandic Police (IP). There is a
separate group of Keflavfk town policemen
assigned to the base. Investigations of acci-
dents on base are made with their coopera-
tion, yet accidents occuring off base are left to
the DPs and the Provost Marshal’s office for
investigating,” said Margerum.
“The gate guards are an independent group
of 28 policemen, who stand 12-hour shifts at
the three gates on the base. We enforce the
Icelandic customs regulations by controlling
the amounts of liquor and food service
members take off of the agreed area,” said
Mr. S. Thorvaldsson, a 38-year veteran of the
Icelandic Police.
The Security Department, although small
in comparison to other commands on base,
has their work load cut out for them. This
work load will soon increase on the backs of
fewer personnel, as the department down-
sizes from the 87 current personnel to 67 in
April. “Our manpower might be reducing,
but we will continue to do our job and put
public safety first,” said Cherry.
January 15,1993
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