Tyndall security forces develop new base defense methods Published Feb. 19, 2013 By Staff Sgt. Rachelle Elsea 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The implementation of a new Integrated Defense Process has the 325th Security Forces Squadron crunching numbers and decreasing crime. "The Security Forces mission is to secure Air Force assets and people, in doing so we must also protect personnel against a wide array of threats ranging from terrorist actions to criminal elements," said Staff Sgt. Patrick Blair, 325th SFS intelligence fusion cell NCOIC. "To be truly successful in the war against criminal and terrorist acts you need both offensive and defensive measures, and that is where the Ground Tasking Order process comes in." To develop this new system, security forces members looked to a similar method used by pilots in the Air Tasking Order process. "To put it in terms that everyone on the base would understand, a pilot operates with an air tasking order that tells him the targets he is going to hit and the effect he is going to achieve," Maj. Anthony McCarty, 325th SFS commander said. "The Ground Tasking Order does the exact same thing, only it is for the operational aspects of security forces on the ground. So using the threat, the vulnerability, the criticality and the trends as we know them, we develop a GTO cycle that tells the active defense force, the patrollers in the field, what to do every day." The process is continuous, and ever evolving. "The GTO process is the sword to compliment the shield aspect of Integrated Defense operations," said Sergeant Blair. "GTO's are a proactive approach to mitigating threats to the installations assets and personnel, utilizing past statistics, local trends, intelligence from different base agencies, as well as local, state and federal law enforcement elements, to come up with a proactive means of deterring crime and terrorist acts, either in the early stages or completely. In short, the GTO's are designed to strike first, and not give the adversary an opportunity to have the element of surprise." The idea began from ambiguity. "The process was created because security forces squadrons were lacking a way to measure Integrated Defense and how to ensure the desired effects were achieved," Major McCarty said. "In a world where there are finite resources, including money and personnel, we wanted to make sure that we were getting the biggest bang for our buck in defending the base. We wanted to achieve the integrated defense effects, which in a nutshell are the security concepts we use to defend Air Force bases." The GTO system affects every facet of base security. "The GTO is a seven-day cycle, which is always changing and fluctuating and affects every gate, every patrol, every law enforcement action, every maritime patrol and every member of community police," said Major McCarty. "They all work off the GTO. It drives what we do each and every day." However, like most effective measures it is fairly simple, added Sergeant Blair. "Instead of patrols randomly driving around patrolling the base, we take gathered information and tell them what the most likely enemy courses of action will be, what the most dangerous enemy's course of action will be and what the criminal element is doing against Tyndall as a whole," Major McCarty said. "It gives the patrol a specific tasking to mitigate the threats." During this process, security forces members are able to collect additional information. "We are also able to catch patterns that Sergeant Blair and his office discover through analysis," said Major McCarty. "This way we can measure the affect we are having on security and target the anti-terrorism efforts and criminal problems that we have. We have already been able to pull data that shows downward trends since the GTO process began just four months ago." The processes outreach spans across many categories. "This is the key part: this is not just about patrols being in a patrol vehicle driving around," Major McCarty said. "It's also about GTOs where a security forces member gets out of his car and walks a neighborhood handing out domestic violence pamphlets, engaging with the base populace. This in turn, achieves the affect of making people more aware about domestic violence leading to fewer incidents. Again, achieving the effect we are looking for." The 325th SFS intelligence fusion cell created the program with Sergeant Blair leading the way. "The initial creation process encompassed my days ... I was thinking about it on and off duty," said Sergeant Blair. "When I first started, I was hesitant to take on a project like this, but once I got the ball rolling I became consumed with it. I started thinking about it all the time." This is the full-time job of SSgt Blair and the Intelligence Fusion Cell, said Major McCarty. "He does nothing else but chew on data and work with the operational flights to develop GTOs," he added. "I am proud of Sergeant Blair. He has brought this project leaps and bounds. He is the plank holder in this; he stood this from the ground up here at Tyndall." He is also extremely proud of the men and women who worked alongside Sergeant Blair on the project. "There are intelligence fusion cells everywhere, but what we did was take it to a new level where we have real time analysis, planning, execution and the ability to quantify what we are doing," Major McCarty said. "This is something we have never been able to do before." The concept has already been adopted across Air Combat Command and is now being pushed to the Security Forces Training Center at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. "They are looking to incorporate this system across the entire Air Force Security Forces career field," said Major McCarty. "Hopefully, we will be able to influence the entire career field into doing something that just makes sense. It will allow us to affectively execute our jobs, but at the same time provides us the ability to directly target and achieve integrated defense." Even with the program reaching new heights, there is still much more to be done. "This program can always improve and evolve," Sergeant Blair said. "I always keep an eye or ear open for improvements."