Stickers Vs Security

[BMCS Nick Pupo]

OK, this may sound very trivial to some as far as a thread. However, I came across an interesting article while I was over on the CPO Association site. I didn’t know that effective 15 March; the Air Force is going to stop issuing decals for entrance on AF Bases.
May not spark a lot of conversation, but to me it asks the questions? Does the Coast Guard need decals?
I say no, most large TraCen’s or ISC’s have security that stop every car trying to get on anyway. With the exception of the morning rush, what is the disadvantage of having to stop to show you ID Card?

[BMCM Stuart S. Slesh]

Just form the standpoint down here in Puerto Rico I'm going to go with yes we still need them. There are two gates at Ft. Buchanan. If you don't have a decal you can only go through the main gate where you need to pick up a temp pass. People with decals can also use the back gate which is closer to the exchange. Its an Army base and I don't think that they'll ever eliminate the need for decals.
Everywhere else I've ever been since 9/11 did 100% I.D. checks anyway, so the decals really don't serve any purpose.

[BMC John Phillips III]

I don't know if we need the stickers either but here is something that has me fired up.

Every time they start to do these "random checks" I somehow randomly get picked. I have lived here for a little more than 6 months and I swear that every single time they've done it, I have been picked. I told the guard last time, I don't care what they say or do, but there is absolutely no way in hell that it was random when I get picked every time. The last time it was me and my daughter and a jeep full of fishing poles. We were returning from fishing and they are looking under the carriage of my car like I am a terrorist. Safety is one thing, assinine is another.

Edited to add: Nick, I swear when I started to reply, BMCM had no replied yet. Check the time stamp! :D

[BMCM Deane Smith]

We were returning from fishing and they are looking under the carriage of my car like I am a terrorist. Safety is one thing, assinine is another.

John...Your statement above doesn't sit well with me. Is this really how you feel about base security?

[CMC Bruce Bradley]

Nick, I think your original question for open discussion was weather the Coast Guard needed stickers, correct? To that end I'd have to say no. But we might have to find other work for some civilians then. But I know that we can find better work for the YNs that are doing it.

The example listed above are all for people driving onto DoD bases, through DoD security, unless i read wrong. If you need one in that positon then have one issued by the DoD base.

[YNCM Doug Squires (Ret)]

This is the article folks are talking about:

"Bases to stop issuing window decals for cars Stickers waste money, officials say By Bruce Rolfsen - Staff writer

The days of Air Force window decals are expiring.

Come March 15, the Air Force will stop requiring bases to issue decals.

"It just makes sense," said Brig. Gen. Mary Hertog, director of Air Force security forces.

Hertog and other Air Force leaders concluded the decals no longer add to airmen's safety and are a needless expense.

Base commanders can set their own deadlines to phase out the decals, but they must end the practice either on March 15 or soon after, Hertog told Air Force Times.

The Air Force change does not affect other services' bases, Hertog said.
Those bases will continue to issue decals. The general hopes the other services will adopt the plan if they conclude the Air Force change is a success.

Already, two Air Force bases have stopped issuing window identification decals.

Hill Air Force Base in Utah quit issuing the stickers in June, and Robins Air Force Base in Georgia stopped as of Feb. 5.

Col. Michael Trapp, commander of Hill's 75th Mission Support Group and a career security forces airman, said the decals weren't making Hill any safer.

"At no time were we letting cars on base because they had a decal,"
Trapp said.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, drivers have been required to show their military-issued identification cards to get on Hill and other Air Force bases, Trapp said.

Last spring, as Hill officials were looking for ways to cut costs, Hill's installation commander, Col. Scott Chambers, questioned why the base continued to give out the decals.

It didn't take long for Trapp's staff to conclude the decals were a waste of money and time.

Three contractors handed out decals and another contractor updated the decal database, Trapp said. There was also the cost of buying the decals. Those direct expenses cost Hill about $115,000 annually.

Now those four employees can focus their time running security checks on contractors, civilians and others who need approval to be on Hill, Trapp said.

Chalon Keller, the civilian head of Hill's transformation office, pointed out that there are other costs associated with decals. Anyone who needed a decal spent on average of about two hours away from work getting it.

Multiply that across the base's civilian and military work force of about 25,000 people, and that is a lot of wasted time, Keller said.

Hertog had reached the same conclusion.

When she became the service's top security forces commander in June, Hertog said, one of her goals was to stop issuing the decals.

Technology has made them obsolete, Hertog and Trapp said.

Three decades ago, when Trapp was an enlisted security forces airman, the decal number was the only way to quickly identify a car's owner, he said.
Today, an airman on patrol can rapidly determine a car's owner by checking the license plate or vehicle identification number against a computer database.

Most complaints about the decision to stop issuing decals have come from retirees and motorcycle owners, Trapp said.

Retirees and people who travel widely may have to get a temporary pass when they want to get on to a different base, the colonel said.

Motorcycle owners balked at having to show their ID card and their motorcycle training certificate card each time they come on base, Trapp said. The motorcycle decal included information that the owner had passed the certification course.

Hill may solve the motorcyclists' complaint by not asking to see the training card, Trapp said.

A third issue is showing respect for senior officers and chief master sergeants, Hertog said.

The rank insignia of generals, colonels and chiefs are part of their decals.

When bases quit providing decals, the rank of the person arriving at the gate will no longer be immediately apparent, Hertog said.

Salutes will continue to be given to senior officers and noncommissioned officers when a gate guard checks their ID cards and sees their rank, Hertog said.

If someone thinks a car is illegally parked in a spot reserved for leadership, he can call base security, Hertog added.

Trapp believes that not having decals improves security.

If someone wanted to single out an airman for an attack, all the assailant had to do was look for a window decal, he said.

And there was always the problem of people not removing stickers before they sold a car or replaced a windshield.

Trapp recalled that while he was a security forces squadron commander, inspectors inevitably found used cars for sale with intact decals or people came up with some other method to sneak onto base using decals."

[BMCM Stuart S. Slesh]

Thanks for posting that Doug. After reading that I would agree, get rid of them. Follow the Air Force's lead and hopefully the rest of DOD will get on board.

[BMCM Wray Gillette (Ret)]

I agree that doing away with base decals will increase security.. Keep in mind it will also increase the time it take you to get into that base...

I'd drive up to Mayport and get a decal, but I'm not sure it's worth the gas. I rarely go to a military base any more...

Wray... :cool:

[BMCS Dave Considine]

I also heard that about 300 GSA government license plates were just stolen. If someone wants to infiltrate a base, they will figure out a way to get on. The stickers also make military personnel a target in some areas. Anti-military people will vandalize those cars. I know it was an issue (pre-911) where fisherman in some fishing ports were targeting CG cars because of seizures, regulation etc.

If you have an ID in your hand, shouldn't matter what your driving.

[BMCS Eric Guerette]

Last I checked you could not get onto the Newport (RI) Navy base without a decal. The reason I was given was to ensure the vehicle was registered and insured, not to identify the driver. That made more sense to me than as a security device.
By the way; My XPO had his windshield replaced recently and the guy was able to transfer the sticker to the new windshield without any damage, a neat trick that involves a piece of tape and a scraper. We told the sector security officer about it. I haven't heard anything about it since.
Eric

[BMC John Phillips III]

John...Your statement above doesn't sit well with me. Is this really how you feel about base security?


Are you serious? What does sit well with you???? It's government housing, we don't stow ballastic missiles there.

[BMCM Deane Smith]

Are you serious? What does sit well with you???? It's government housing, we don't stow ballastic missiles there.

You're assinine & terrorist comments are what don't sit well with me. How can you have such an attitude about random security checks that are in place to keep your family safe? Sorry, I don't get it.

[ETC Pat Kaschube]

I also always assumed that the decal issue process was a way to ensure that all of our folks had insurance and a valid registration. Even though the insurance could lapse and they could not pay their registration after they get a decal at least there is something in place.

[BMCS Jim Madsen]

JP3,
When I was on the training team, I had a female that would get picked to have here bags searched any time we flew. It was the darndest thing. Every time. Maybe you look like a terrorist. Maybe someone knows someone in security and gave them a photo of you and said, "bust his nads" anytime he comes through the gate. Just to be funny. Maybe it is all a conspiracy.

[BMC John Phillips III]

How can you have such an attitude about random security checks that are in place to keep your family safe?

No apology necessary, I understand what you are getting at now. The reason I have a problem with it is that they say it's "random" when it clearly isn't. I can count at least 6 times they have conducted these checks, now either I am the luckiest person living on base or they aren't random at all, because I get checked EVERY TIME! We have all sorts of contractors running around base day in and day out, I would "randomly" select them instead of residents.

The check doesn't bother me near as much as the label "random does." I mean call it what it is, if you are gonna check all red Jeep Grand Cherokees or even just all SUV's so be it. At least then I won't approach the gate having a inkling of hope that I will not have to pull over and play Mr. Grateful you are keeping me safe. You don't have to feel the same way, but I hope at least now you understand why it bothers me. I hate when people try to disguise something as something it's not or simply put, lie.

[BMCM Deane Smith]

No apology necessary, I understand what you are getting at now. The reason I have a problem with it is that they say it's "random" when it clearly isn't. I can count at least 6 times they have conducted these checks, now either I am the luckiest person living on base or they aren't random at all, because I get checked EVERY TIME! We have all sorts of contractors running around base day in and day out, I would "randomly" select them instead of residents.

The check doesn't bother me near as much as the label "random does." I mean call it what it is, if you are gonna check all red Jeep Grand Cherokees or even just all SUV's so be it. At least then I won't approach the gate having a inkling of hope that I will not have to pull over and play Mr. Grateful you are keeping me safe. You don't have to feel the same way, but I hope at least now you understand why it bothers me. I hate when people try to disguise something as something it's not or simply put, lie.

John...I have to ask...Are you saying that they are picking your vehicle every time they have these random searches even if your number doesn't come up? Why would they do that? Just because it's you?

[BMC John Phillips III]

Yes they are all out to get me; I think you may be one of them! :eek: lol

No, I am not applying my usual narcissist conspiracy theorist personality here :rolleyes: .

The truth of the matter is that since I moved here, my vehicle has been selected every single time they conduct the searches, which if you read, best I can remember is 6 times. So my biggest complaint again, is that they call it random, but what are the odds that my vehicle is randomly picked each time.

I guess maybe I should remove that "Legalize it!" sticker from my vehicle :p

that was a joke...

[PACS Steve Carleton]

Either you are guilty of something or you happen to be bringing some form of contraband onboard -- If I worked the gate, you would definitly be on my list :D