Countering terrorism requires your help Published March 13, 2007 By Air Force Office of Special Investigations Detachment 410 LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- People around the nation are now being more vigilant in their communities. After the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, community involvement has become a key for law enforcement agencies nationwide. The Air Force Office of Special Investigations emphasizes how important is to make everyone aware of an important role they can take to help law enforcement agencies in the battle against terrorism. Only you know who or what belongs - or doesn't belong - in your building, neighborhood, or office. Recognition of this fact is behind one of the Air Force's antiterrorism initiatives, a program known as "Eagle Eyes." In 2001, AFOSI established the Eagle Eyes program, as a global neighborhood watch program to prevent terrorism and criminal activities, which pose a force protection threat to personnel, facilities, and resources in military and civilian communities. According to Laughlin's AFOSI, communities are asked to be on the antiterrorism team by being extra eyes and ears of law enforcement and to be aware of activities which belong or don't belong in and around their base, neighborhood, and community. According to Special Agent Jessie Garcia of Detachment 410 of the AFOSI, the first step is knowing what to look for. "Eagle Eyes is our model for doing just that. The simple act of recognizing suspicious behavior and reporting it to authorities could thwart terrorist acts and save lives." "Every terrorist operation is preceded by precursor events that people need to recognize and report," said Agent Garcia. "Terrorist acts don't just happen - they are carefully planned and rehearsed in advance." The key is public awareness of what to look for on and off the installation. "This is something the whole community needs to be involved in. "Anyone - from community members, military members, family members, to government civilians, contractors, and even business proprietors - could see something out of the ordinary, report it, and make the difference between a terrorist act occurring or not occurring. Our best chance to detect and prevent a terrorist act in our community is to vigilantly report it. The more eyes and ears we can enlist to be on the lookout for suspicious activity, the more difficult we can make it for terrorists to act." Capt. Alexander Logan, 47th Security Forces Squadron antiterrorism officer, said people shouldn't be shy about reporting incidents that could turn out to be innocent behavior. Every report is investigated immediately and thoroughly. The program has been successful to date due to concerned individuals taking the initiative in being aware of their environment and immediately reporting these activities. Out of the tens of thousands of reports received, many of the reports assisted in the detection and prevention of potential criminal or violent acts. One recent example of suspicious activity reporting came from Laughlin civilian employees who observed several men who appeared out of place and had no particular reason be in a specific area of the base. The employees immediately reported the activity and Security Forces personnel responded to the area. Their efforts led to locating four illegal immigrants trespassing on base and instantly resolving the incident. Fortunately, the illegal immigrants didn't access the base with terroristic intentions in mind. "Incidents like the one mentioned are bound to happen from time to time, but you don't know if it's innocent until you report it and it is checked out," Agent Garcia said. "We're much less concerned about too much reporting than we are with too little. When lives are at stake, it's better to be safe than sorry. If in doubt, report it. Your call could make the difference. The bottom line is if something bothers you or doesn't seem right, tell someone." Suspicious activity that should be reported is classified into broad categories: Surveillance: Someone recording or monitoring activities. This may include the use of cameras (either still or video), note taking, drawing diagrams, annotating on maps or using binoculars or other vision-enhancing devices. Elicitation: People or organizations attempting to gain information about military operations, capabilities, or people. Elicitation attempts may be made by mail, fax, telephone, or in person. Tests of Security: Any attempts to measure reaction times to security breaches or to penetrate physical security barriers or procedures in order to assess strengths and weaknesses. Examples: a driver approaches the front gate (without ID and/or car sticker) and pretends to be lost or to have taken a wrong term, just to learn the procedures of how he is dealt with and how far into the gate he can get before being turned around Acquiring Supplies : Purchasing or stealing explosives, weapons, ammunition, detonators, timers, etc. Also includes acquiring military uniforms, decals, flight manuals, passes or badges (or the equipment to manufacture such items) or any other controlled items. Suspicious persons out of place: People who don't seem to belong in the workplace, neighborhood, business establishment, or anywhere else. This category is hard to define, but the point is that people know what looks right and what doesn't look right in their neighborhoods, office spaces, commutes, etc, and if a person just doesn't seem like he or she belongs, there's probably a reason for that. Dry run: Putting people into position and moving them around according to their plan without actually committing the terrorist act. This is especially true when planning a kidnapping, but it can also pertain to bombings. Deploying Assets: People and supplies getting into position to commit the act. This is a person's last chance to alert authorities before the terrorist act occurs. One fairly good example of this is the attack on the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia. When the explosives-laden truck pulled up to the fence line (which was the "deploying assets" step) and the driver jumped out and ran away, that was seen by a spotter on the roof of the dormitory, who recognized this as suspicious activity. He then sprinted down stairs and began pounding on doors, rousting people out of bed and getting them out of the building. Because of that, he saved many, many lives, and it's all because he recognized the "deploying assets" element. Agent Garcia said AFOSI is not asking anybody to stray from their normal routines in any way -- other than to ask them to pay closer attention to their surroundings. No one's asked to look through windows... no one's asked to sift through garbage cans... no one's asked to put their ears up against walls, etc. Rather, people should be on the lookout for anything that appears to fit into the categories of suspicious behavior that the Eagle Eyes program outlines. And if they see something, they should make a phone call. That's not snooping, that's not spying... it's just being alert, he said. The program has been very successful across the Air Force in detecting and preventing potential criminal and violent activities in our communities. Due to its success, the program is now being used by the Army, Navy and Marines. It is particularly important here in our environment along the border for military and civilians to report any suspicious activities in our neighborhoods or workplaces. Anyone with something to report should immediately call the Laughlin AFB's Security Forces Law Enforcement Desk at 298-5100. From there, security forces will respond as appropriate to the immediate situation and immediately pass the report to AFOSI. For details call AFOSI Detachment 410 at 298-5158.