Answers
1943 General Henry Hap Arnold Established office of the Air Provost Marshal
Army Air Force (AAF) and military police combined
Renamed AAF Security Batallions
National Security Act of 1947 Created the USAF
Army Air Force MP eventually became the USAF
1948 General Order No. 1 Designated units and individuals serving under them as "air police"
Established the Air Provost Marshal
1st Air Provost Marshal Colonel Joseph V Dillon
Korean War Era 1950 Air police were the only "armed" force on base
AF needed to develop a more extensive base defense
* unpreparedness of Korean War led to development and training of all AF
members
1950 First Air Force police school was established at Tyndall AFB in Florida
1952 Air Base Defense School was developed at Parks AFB in California
1956 Air Police Training transferred to Lackland AFB in Texas
1960s Vietnam and Air Base Defense The name of the "Air Provost Marshal" changed to the Director of Security and
Law Enforcement
1965 First Air Policeman killed in action in Vietnam
, 1966 Career field name changed from Air Police to Security Police
1967 Operation SAFE SIDE formed 1041st SP Squadron
* test squadron to deploy to Southeast Asia
Battle of Son nhut Jan 31 1968 Vietnam Tet defense offensive
- biggest test of combat effectiveness
- bunker 051 5 man team held off assault long enough to wait for back up
- attacked by a force of over seven Viet cong army battalions 2,500 enemy troops
- it was a Vietnamese holiday so it wasn't expected
- blew a hole in the west dense and penetrated the base
- four of five men were killed Louis fisher, William cyr, Charles Hebron, Roger
mills, Alonzo Coggins (the only survivor)
- managed to take back the bunker and all five men were awarded the Silver Star
for their defense of bunker 051
Lessons Learned From Battle of Son Nhut Air Base defense policy needed revision
"Whole Base" Concept
- needed security guarding all points of the base
March 1971 Security Forces split into Security and Law Enforcement
November 1971 Women entered LEA
May 1975 SS Mayaguez Captured by Cambodian Forces
- 2 helicopters were sent
- one went down, 18 SP died
- marine corps took over the mission
- 18 of them revived brown stars of Valor
Operation URGENT FURY 1983 Grenada
- called upon help from the US and Cuba tried to take them over because of their
major Airport to use it for arms and military equipment
- SP units among first to arrive
- participated in drug interdiction and humanitarian relief
- helped with securing air landing strips and control of enemy prisoners of war
Operation JUST CAUSE US invasion of Panama in December 1989
- brought a quick and decisive end to the dictatorial regime of General Manuel
Antonio Noriega (commander of the Panamanian Defense Forces)
- 27,000 American troops hit twenty seven targets in Panama
- Security Police units tasked with securing landing strips
- participated in drug interdiction and humanitarian relief
Operation Desert Shield August 1990 objective was the defense of Saudi Arabia in the wake of the invasion
of Kuwait by Iraq.
- was the first time we went to war on foreign soil since the Vietnam conflict
Operation Desert Storm Objective was to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi occupation.
Security personnel were tasked with securing Air Force bases, providing dignitary
support, securing classified information and resources and counter-terrorism.
Also to secure air strips.