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Throughout the years there have been terrorist attacks in areas where servicemembers were present, from the 1996 bombing of Khobar Towers, a housing complex in Saudi Arabia, to an attack against the U.S. Air Forces in Europe headquarters here in 1981.
After Sept. 11, 2001, ‘terrorist’ suddenly became an everyday word. It changed how and where the U.S. military operates, trains and educates servicemembers.
Today, more than eight years later, some servicemembers may feel safe from an attack on base, but watching out for possible threats is a responsibility everyone shares.
Recent events such as the attempted bombing of Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab have brought the threat of terrorism back into the limelight, changing the mental image of what people visualize when the word terrorist comes up in conversation.
“Many servicemembers new to Ramstein may not know there was a projected terrorist attack against this base just two years ago,” said Tracy Alvey, USAFE force protection chief.
To help keep a constant watch, a group of representatives from various USAFE agencies on base meet bimonthly to discuss possible threats to the theater, servicemembers and their families in Europe and the local community.
The threat working group is made up of representatives from protocol, staff judge advocates, public affairs, anti-terrorism, force protection, safety, the surgeon general and the office of special investigations, among others. The group is charged with analyzing threats and providing recommendations to commanders concerning potential security measures.
“There are events going on every day that the intelligence world is tracking, and reports from Eagle Eyes come in almost daily – some legitimate, some not, but each one serves as the reason for the threat working group,” said William Gairy, USAFE readiness analyst. “We look for trends in the kinds of things the bad guys are doing and try to either mitigate or educate our community members on those trends.”
In fact, in Germany there have been 308 suspected Islamic terrorist arrests, and more than 68 percent of all terrorist suspects are arrested within the European Union.
“There are two main concerns we are looking at: education and cooperation, education of our Airmen and their family members, and cooperation with our NATO and host-nation partners,” Mr. Alvey said.
For this reason the chair of the group and other OSI agents often interact with their German counterparts.
“Every active-duty member and their dependents 14 years or older are required to have Level I Anti-Terrorism Awareness training before being assigned here,” said Rick Melton, USAFE physical security analyst. “During these courses, they are taught individual protection and reporting techniques.”
“Although the bomb on Flight 253 did not explode, each person who travels internationally from now on will see changes – changes in security procedures to changes in what the world sees when the word ‘terrorist’ comes up in conversation. And Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab got the world’s attention,” Mr. Gairy said. “It is always the terrorists’ main goal to capture the media attention, to grab those headlines to inject fear.”
Each member of the local community as well as the base can help the threat working group prevent future incidents by remaining vigilant and reporting suspicious activity.
“We rely on our intelligence community and reports, like Eagle Eyes, to help protect the base,” Mr. Melton said.
Whether it is watching out for groups of terrorist cells or the new lone-wolf like Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the threat is real, and everyone must remain alert to their surroundings and report suspicious activities.
“Defending against terrorism is a community effort,” Mr. Alvey said. “Everyone must understand their role as a sensor in the campaign against
terrorism and for some they could be the first line of defense in preventing or identifying a terrorist operation to attack our community.”
