Lending a hand

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Amber Powell
  • 177th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ATLANTIC CITY AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, N.J. --  The 177th Security Forces Squadron has new augmentees lending a hand around the Wing.

Airmen from different squadrons including civil engineering, medical, and maintenance have volunteered and taken the necessary steps to serve alongside our security forces Airmen.

For Staff Sgt. Ryan Fogarty, a fire protection specialist at the 177th FW, it didn't take much for him to volunteer.

"When I heard the base was in need I wanted to help," said Fogarty, who normally works full time as a parole officer for the state of New Jersey. "I'm familiar with the type of training we had to go through and what's expected, so it was an easy decision."

"The way the augmentee program works is that people from different career fields around the base come over and get training," said Senior Master Sgt. John Sacchetti, 177th Security Forces Operations Superintendent. "They get weapons training, use of force training, non-lethal weapons training and any other training needed to work security forces on the installation. Then they are posted with a qualified security forces member, at all times, to help boost security."

Augmentees are filling positions that are needed in the security forces squadron due to the increased Force Protection Condition that occurred across the DoD earlier this year.

The training, which is required annually, produces a certification that places the Airmen on a list where they can be called upon during times of need.

"Due to the increased FPCON right now, all the augmentees are working," said Sacchetti. "But if we were back to a lower FPCON and didn't need the augmentees, they would all go back to their shops. Then if something were to happen, whether it be a terrorist activity or airplane accident, something along that nature, we could just go down that list and recall those people and they would boost the security of the base."