43rd SFS Protecting the Force Published Dec. 8, 2006 By 1st Lt. Lisa Ferguson 43rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- More than 250 people were "jailed" in the 43rd Security Forces Squadron's 2nd Annual Jail and Bail, which raises funds to help organizations on base in need of funds. "Last year we donated $500 to Airmen Against Drunk Driving," said Master Sgt. Jerry Glover, 43rd SFS first sergeant. "This year we'll get with [Chief Master Sgt. Herb Hanson, 43rd Airlift Wing command chief,] to find out what organization on base needs funds. The amount and organization have yet to be determined this year, according to Sergeant Glover. For Jail and Bail, someone must pay money to have another person arrested. The person is arrested and then must raise at least that amount to be released. "If someone pays $5 to have someone else arrested, the person arrested must raise $5 to be bailed out of jail," Sergeant Glover said. "As a courtesy, we do give the person jailed a free ride back to their office once they've raised the funds." This year the most an office paid to have someone arrested was $20. In addition to donating money to a base organization, the squadron uses the money to offset the cost of the holiday dinner provided to all the families of deployed security forces Airmen and to send care packages to those deployed personnel. One day a year, the 43rd SFS jails Airmen for some good-natured fund raising, but every other day is business as usual. Part of the job in security forces is a high operations tempo. A security forces Airman who is familiar with deployments is Staff Sgt. Adriana Marquez, who's been on three deployments to Camp Bucca, Iraq; Qatar and Kuwait in the five years she's been in the Air Force. "My deployments have each lasted about six to eight months," she said. "We usually deploy once a year - home six months and gone six months - but you have to attend 30 days of training before each deployment." The pre-deployment training depends on where you're deploying to and the mission of that location. "They are trying to work it so it gets better, so that you're home for longer," she said. A typical day for Sergeant Marquez doesn't usually involve entry control, because noncommissioned officers don't normally man that post, but does include base patrol and flightline patrol. In addition, that typical day also means working in a male-dominated career field, with only one other female Airman. "This is the only work environment I've ever known, but I hear it's a little different from other work environments," she said. "But I picked this career field; I wanted to do Security Forces." Sergeant Marquez explained the difference in security forces at home and deployed. "At home it's more law enforcement," she said. "When you're deployed, it's more air base defense, which is something normally done overseas and involves things like patrolling in the woods." Sergeant Marquez will soon be leaving security forces, though, to cross-train into information management. "Sergeant Marquez is a perfect example of the type of troop we would like to retain; however, it has become all too common that our sharper folks are either separating or cross training into other career fields," said Master Sgt. Anthony Frazier, 43rd SFS law enforcement superintendent. "Our retention issues are primarily due to our high AEF operations temp. The standard business for our troops is six-plus months deployed and six to eight months back at home station. I have been at Pope approaching four years, and I have been deployed for 18 months. There have even been some instances of a mere five months at home station between deployments. This takes a toll on our Airmen and their loved ones, and it directly impacts the retention rates within our career field. Airman 1st Class Trey Walters, an Individual Mobilization Augmentee from Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C., volunteered to come to Pope through March 2007. Airman Walters joined the Air Force earlier this year in February at the age of 17. "I joined for patriotic reasons, but also because I wanted to be a civilian law enforcement officer, but you have to be 21," he said. "I'm doing this in the meantime." Airman Walters, who has since turned 18, has no civilian job right now, but volunteers with Civil Air Patrol and Stony Hill Fire Department, a rural fire department in Wake Forest, N.C. A typical day for Airman Walters begins at 1 p.m. when he arrives at the squadron to get his weapon, receive updates and get a safety briefing. He posts by 2 p.m. and works until 10 p.m. Work can include anything from entry control to base patrol to flightline patrol, and it can change every day. He works six days on and three days off. On the first, third and fifth days of work, they all meet for physical training, rain or shine. Sometimes they meet at the gym, if it's still open, and sometimes at the squadron for calisthenics and running. The flight chief assigns duties every day, from entry control to base patrol to flightline patrol. Entry control includes checking ID cards, inspecting vehicles and ensuring no one illegally enters the base. Base patrol duties consist of building checks at night, driving through housing, daily random antiterrorism measures and responding to incidents. Flightline patrol ensures the safety and security of all Airmen, aircraft assets and resources on the flightline. Airman Walters says he loves doing his job. "Every now and then you get to help someone, so it makes it worthwhile," he said. Airman Walters is one of many proposed solutions to promote some type of stability in between deployments, Sergeant Frazier said. "He is an ARC-v Reservist troop sent to us to plus up manpower while we fill our AEF taskings. Life would be even more difficult without the support of our ARC-v, First Term Airmen and IMAs to help ease the manpower shortage. It allows our folks to maintain eight-hour shifts to give a home life for the periods where our troops are not deployed."