Barksdale SFS celebrates Police Week 2012

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Terri Barriere
  • 2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs
Barksdale Air Force Base, La. --  Airmen from the 2nd Security Forces Squadron joined the Shreveport and Bossier City law enforcement agencies in celebration of Police Week May 13-19 to recognize the service and sacrifice of their fellow comrades in arms.

Police Week, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers' Memorial Fund, was established by Congress in 1962, and pays special recognition to those law enforcement officers who've given their lives in the line of duty. The week is a collaborative effort of many organizations dedicated to honoring America's law enforcement community, and as such, bridges the gap between the military and local civilian LE community.

In celebration of Police Week 2012, 2 SFS Airmen joined a team of their local counterparts to participate in the 16-mile torch run. Additionally, SFS Airmen attended a LE memorial ceremony and participated in a golf tournament, events Christopher Bowman, 2 SFS chief of plans and programs, said are intended to recognize and remember officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice, as well as foster camaraderie among fellow officers.

"For Air Force security forces, Police Week is a simple reminder that we are part of a larger brotherhood of folks committed to protecting the lives of others," Maj. Mark Breed, 2 SFS commander said. "It's a short period of time that gives us a chance to reflect on the police professionals, civilian and military alike, who have come before us, work with us now and especially those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for the position and duty they were trained and committed to do."

Bowman said the average Airman usually thinks about security forces as police officers only when they need help or if they're in trouble, but Police Week puts a spotlight on the entire career field - military and civilian alike.

"We're service members first, but we're police officers as well," he said. "We're recognized police officers ... there is no difference, a cop is a cop is a cop, and that's why we celebrate Police Week, too."

Bowman said the military and civilian LE community are so closely intertwined that the Air Force SF apprentice and officer courses were recently given Federal Law Enforcement Accreditation, marking the first time all SF members, both officers and civilians, will graduate from accredited law enforcement institutions.

"This is yet another reason to celebrate this week," Bowman said. "Even some of the younger Airmen don't quite understand the gravity of this yet. This means the training they receive in tech school is now officially accepted as equal to their civilian counterparts."

As Police Week 2012 comes to an end, Breed emphasized the important role 2 SFS plays not just during Police Week, but daily in the Air Force mission.

"The primary mission of Air Force Security Forces is to protect, defend and fight to enable Air Force, joint and coalition missions," Breed said. "Without SF on the ground defending our personnel and resources, the success of the Air Force's mission of flying, fighting and winning becomes reliant on the assumption that our enemies have no bad intentions."