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ROCK SOLID WARRIOR

  • Published
  • 387th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  Staff Sgt. Michael A. Yurco III 

Job: Security Controller 

Home unit: 35th Security Forces Squadron, Misawa Air Base, Japan

How do you support the mission here? As a security controller, I support the mission here in Southwest Asia by directing the on-duty Security Forces charged with protecting over 400 coalition, contractors, host nation personnel and protection level resources on a daily basis. I provide command and control for any type of situation requiring a Security Forces response such as security incidents, inflight emergencies and all suspicious activities. I coordinate our responses with our host nation security counterparts and joint emergency responders. Another facet of my job is to notify key leaders of all security incidents affecting the air base and keep them informed as the situation changes, allowing them to see the whole picture and make command decisions. Each and every one of these duties are crucial to base security since 750,000 passengers process through this Aerial Port of Debarkation, making it the busiest in the world.

How many times have you deployed and what makes this one unique? I have never deployed before, but I think it is unique because we travel everyday to and from work. There are logistical concerns that have to be taken into consideration on a daily basis to ensure our forces arrive at work safely, whereas at most deployed locations you live and work at the same place or base.

How does your job differ in a deployed environment vs. home base? Being a security controller in a deployed environment requires that you communicate with other bases and agencies on a much more frequent basis. At my home station, I rarely have to communicate with other bases for day to day operations. Also, many of the things we do on a daily basis have to be coordinated with our host nation counterparts. Changes to our security policy must be coordinated in a manner that ensures the coalition mission is not hindered. The jurisdiction is different; at home station we own the flightline, whereas here there are many elements we don't control making it a unique challenge.