JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- Have you ever been on base and noticed something that just didn’t look right, but didn’t know quite what to do?
In an effort to highlight the importance of reporting suspicious behavior, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and security forces officials across the Air Force are urging all base personnel to remember “If You See Something, Say Something.”
If you “see something” that you know shouldn't be there, or someone's behavior doesn't seem quite right or is troubling, then “say something.” This type of reporting is part of an integrated base defense program called the AFOSI Eagle Eyes program.
The Eagle Eyes program is an Air Force anti-terrorism initiative that enlists the eyes and ears of all Air Force members in the war on terror. Eagle Eyes teaches all Airmen about typical activities terrorists engage in to plan their attacks. Armed with this information, anyone can recognize elements of potential terror-planning when they see it. The Eagle Eyes program provides a network of local, 24-hour phone numbers to call whenever a suspicious activity is observed.
“Our number one priority is the safety and welfare of the Airmen, families and local community, “said Col. Thomas Miner, 502nd Security Readiness Group commander. “The Every Airmen is a Sensor initiative as well as the Eagle Eyes program, reminds us that every Joint Base San Antonio Airmen, as well as, every citizen can be a charging force when it comes to the security of our bases, our neighborhoods and our nation.”
To report suspicious activity, contact your local installation security forces. To help you describe specifically what you have seen, you can use the acronym SALUTE:
• Size: how many people
• Activity: What were the individual(s) doing?
• Location: •Where it occurred
• Uniform: what where the individual(s) wearing
• Time: when did you see it?
• Equipment: were they driving a car, or carrying equipment
To report suspicious behavior, base residents are asked to call JBSA-Lackland: 210-671-4000 / JBSA-Randolph and JBSA- Fort Sam Houston: 210-295-0088.
According to the AFOSI Eagle Eyes program, categories of suspicious behavior include:
Surveillance: People standing around observing activities, people looking through binoculars and taking notes, drawing maps or taking pictures.
Solicitation: Attempts to gain information about military operations, capabilities, or people. Examples are, being approached at a gas station (or mall, airport or library) and asked about the base; getting a fax, e-mail or telephone call asking for troop strength, the number of airplanes on base, deployment procedures, how a trash-collection truck gets on base, the location of the headquarters building or other information.
Tests of security: A person grabs the base fence and shakes it to see how long it takes for police to respond. A driver approaches the front gate (without ID or a car sticker) and pretends to be lost or to have taken a wrong turn, just to learn the procedures of how he or she is dealt with and how far into the gate he or she can get before being turned around. A person places a "smoke bomb" near the fence or throws it over the fence to learn how quickly police respond, and what effect it has on front-gate operations.
Acquiring supplies: That includes noticing the movement or acquisition of any of the tools terrorists use, such as fake IDs, guns, ammunition, military uniforms, explosives, detonators or timers.
Suspicious people who don't belong: This is hard to define, but people know what looks right and what doesn't. If a person just doesn't seem like he or she belongs, there's probably a reason.
Dry run: People moving around from place to place without any apparent purpose and doing it, perhaps, many times. That may involve taking notes and timing things. An example is the 9/11 hijackers, who are now known to have actually flown on those exact flights several times before actually crashing them. Their purpose was to practice getting their people in position ... working out arrival times, parking, ticketing, going through security, boarding and other processes. By taking note of everything around them they were conducting surveillance, but they were also doing a dry run.
Deploying assets: That includes moving people and supplies into position before acting. Look for people loading vehicles with weaponry or explosives, or parking that vehicle. It also includes people in military uniforms (who don't look right) approaching an installation or getting into a vehicle.
For more information on the AFOSI Eagle Eyes program, go to http://www.osi.af.mil/Home/Eagle-Eyes/