Photo By Libby Weiler | Two U.S. Army Garrison Benelux military police Soldiers pose for a photograph at the...... read more read more
CHIÈVRES, Belgium – The crowd of the Chièvres Air Fest this year at one point late in the evening exceeded 15,000, not including the host of workers and volunteers on hand.
The Directorate of Emergency Services – allied with their host nation counterparts – had poised to take on the monumental task of ensuring the security of the fest.
In addition to the typical contingent of military police Soldiers from Chièvres Air Base, other garrison MPs from the Brussels community, from Brunssum, the Netherlands, and from Army Prepositioned Stock Site Dülmen, Germany, formed a sizeable team to assist with such a high-capacity event.
“We wanted to have the maximum manpower for this size of event,” said Staff Sgt. Christopher Locklin, operations noncommissioned officer in charge for the Directorate of Emergency Services. “We just wanted to maximize our law enforcement strength and show the presence of law enforcement, but in a friendly capacity.”
Locklin, a native of Corona, California, is a 7 year, 6 month veteran of the Army, and has served at Fort Riley, Kansas and in Turkey. He said the capacity of the event (or the crowd size versus the installation size) exceeded anything else he had experienced in his career.
The garrison’s military police team did not stand alone. Joining them to keep the fest secure were members of the SHAPE Federal Police from Mons, Belgium, as well as other host nation military police. The SHAPE Federal Police, who also helped DES plan the event’s security, brought with them a special reaction team and an explosive ordinance disposal team in case.
Together, the police force oversaw inner security, outer security, event security and parking.
Locklin credited the SHAPE Federal Police team not only with the aspect of security but with providing a practical, deft touch with the attendees, most of whom were from the host nation and many of whom did not speak English.
“This is the first time that I’ve done a joint community event,” said Locklin, who has been at USAG Benelux for 3 years, 6 months. “So our community partners, they fit in more so where there were some lapses. They were tremendous in that aspect where they were still able to be useful in a law enforcement capacity, but they were (also) able to translate because a lot of local nationals don’t speak English.”
In his time at Chièvres, Locklin has served as a desk sergeant, and frequently relied on the authority and expertise of the SHAPE Federal Police. He said having them on hand directly at the fest was a comfort in case of any incident.
Police were not the only first responders on hand during the event either. The DES firefighting team was there, as were the Chièvres firefighters, who brought with them their engines and water tanker. Medical personnel were also on hand, including from the SHAPE Healthcare Facility and emergency medical technicians from U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden.
One team in particular Locklin singled out for their good work during the event: the contracted gate guards.
“The gate guards we should give a little bit more credit,” he said. “All the people that came to the air fest had to go through them first, and they were the first people that a lot of local nationals or even Americans or NATO ID cardholders had to go through.”
Locklin said the crowds had been curious more than anything else, wanting most to take photos and start conversations.
| Date Taken: | 11.15.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 11.15.2021 03:52 |
| Story ID: | 409291 |
| Location: | CHIEVRES, HAINAUT (WAL), BE |
| Web Views: | 257 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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