Photo By Senior Airman William Lunn | The Department of the Air Force Security Forces logo is sewn onto the jacket of...... read more read more
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MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. – The Department of the Air Force (DAF) police officers work alongside Air Force security forces. These personnel, clad in dark blue, are not enlisted. They do not wear the Air Force camo, yet they stand at the gate, patrolling the base to ensure that nothing goes sideways.
McConnell Air Force Base is not exactly a tourist destination. It is a city within a city; a landscape of gray pavement, towering aircraft, and a hum of disciplined routine. But beyond the KC-46A Pegasus, beyond the salutes and flight line hustle, is an undercurrent of vigilance – a layer of protection that most people never think about.
The gate is where it starts. McConnell’s main entrance is more than a simple checkpoint; it’s a calculated funnel, a series of controlled breach points where the outside world meets the inside. DAF officers work shoulder to shoulder with U.S. Air Force security forces personnel, scanning IDs, watching body language and keeping a trained eye for anything that does not fit.
“There’s a lot more to it than just checking IDs – it’s looking for anything that’s out of place," said Officer Joseph Holzman, 22nd Security Forces Squadron supervisory police officer. “It’s reading people, the way they hold themselves, how they answer basic questions. You develop a sixth sense for it.”
Officers move through it all, driving through back roads, checking fences and securing buildings that most Airmen pass by without a second thought.
They provide a consistent security presence, ensuring that the base remains protected even when active-duty security forces members are fulfilling overseas missions.
“We are the continuity,” Holzman said. “We stay here when everybody else has to leave and go do whatever they have to do. We are still here to help manage the flight, help make the schedule and provide that security for the base.”
The dual effort of having DAF officers and active-duty patrolmen use their combined training live on the scene of unauthorized access attempts, suspicious packages, and drunk drivers has helped not only relieve the pressure of 22nd SFS patrolman but gives a whole new perspective.
“There’s mutual respect,” said Senior Airman Dillon Mjigal, 22nd SFS entry controller. “Having them has helped in countless high stress situations. We know they have the street smarts, the experience. We learn from each other.”
And that is what makes it work. These officers bring years, sometimes decades, of law enforcement experience to the table. They have worked city streets, dealt with criminals who do not play by the rules and responded to calls that ended in gunfire or worse. That knowledge, blended with the Air Force’s strict discipline and protocols, creates a security force that is adaptable, reactive, and quietly formidable.
The DAF officers attend a 10-week training course in Little Rock, Arkansas, serving as the foundation for civilian law enforcement personnel assigned to U.S. Air Force bases. Similar to the technical training school that active-duty security forces members attend at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, this program immerses DAF officers in Air Force law enforcement procedures. The course covers a wide range of topics, including base security protocols, federal law, and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Officers also receive hands-on weapons training, defensive tactics, and scenario-based exercises that simulate real-world incidents, such as responding to domestic disputes or active shooter situations.
Rather than simply augmenting active-duty security forces, they are integrated into a structured, professional law enforcement entity within the unit. This shift emphasizes the importance of their expertise in handling incidents such as DUIs, investigations, and day-to-day policing functions, ensuring that the base operates with a higher level of law enforcement professionalism.
“Our DAF officers provide a highly professional Law Enforcement presence throughout MAFB and greatly enhances our unit's community policing objectives,” said Larry Similton, 22nd SFS, assistant operations officer. “And that is what we’re trying to create here, a police department within our organization which will focus strictly on law enforcement.”
As long as they are on the job, that is what they will continue to strive to do.
| Date Taken: | 04.03.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 04.03.2025 10:11 |
| Story ID: | 494459 |
| Location: | MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, KANSAS, US |
| Web Views: | 75 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, The Quiet Guardians of McConnell: DAF Police Officers, by SrA William Lunn, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
