Vance NCO serving as security escort flight chief

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Michael Matkin
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  The servicemembers who make up the 379th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron escort flight here all perform a job that most had never done before -- a job that entrusts them with the safety and security of the base populace. 

The mission of the 379th ECES escort flight is accountability for the more than 2,000 third country nationals who work on base and to keep a vigilant eye throughout the base interior 24/7. 

"We escort the TCNs who build and clean almost everything on base," said Senior Master Sgt. Roger Kuhlmann, 379th ECES force protection security escort flight chief, deployed from Vance Air Force Base, Okla., where he is the 71st Force Support Squadron superintendent. 

Currently, the escort flight oversees more than $42.5 million in service contracts performed by the TCNs. Because the TCNs work across all areas of the base, the escorts have to be vigilant at all times, Sergeant Kuhlmann said. 

"We are the front line defense against anything that appears to be out of the ordinary," Sergeant Kuhlmann said. "If we see a worker doing anything that doesn't seem right, our job is to report it to the proper authorities." 

There are other duties besides monitoring the TCNs for which the escorts are responsible, to include looking in dumpsters before they are emptied. 

Checking dumpsters ensures there aren't any prohibited items being thrown away, such as uniforms, which is a common operations security violation. To mitigate this, the 379th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron transit shipping point established an unserviceable uniform disposal box program. 

"The boxes have been a major success," Sergeant Kuhlmann said. For example, in July, before the boxes were in place we found more than 250 uniform items that were disposed of improperly. This number has been cut in half since the boxes have been put in place." 

When escorts discover operational security violations, the items are recovered and destroyed. If a TCN is found with a restricted item or causes any other infraction, like fighting, the authorities are called and they assume responsibility for him or her, Sergeant Kuhlmann said. 

"While there have been a few TCN violations in the past, for the most part they just want to come to work, do their job and go home," Sergeant Kuhlmann said. 

Currently there are more than 75 different Air Force Specialty Codes represented in the escort flight, Sergeant Kuhlmann said. 

This diverse group of Air Force individuals diligently escorts TCNs ensuring the lives of more than 9,000 servicemembers assigned here have a base that is clean, in good repair, and most important -- safe and secure.