WHEELER ARMY AIRFIELD, Hawaii - Sixteen security guards graduated from the Army's Security Guard Basic Academy in a ceremony held at the chapel, here, July 19.
Garrison's Directorate of Emergency Services will hire a total of 120 security guards as part of Installation Management Command's plan to convert nearly 3,100 installation access-control-point security guard positions from contractor to federal-employee status across the country.
The switch is due to congressional mandates and the expected loss of a waiver established after 9/11 that allowed the Department of Defense to contract security guard services at military installations in the U.S., said Craig Shreiner, branch chief of physical security for IMCOM.
For Soldiers and civilians, their families and members of the general public accessing Hawaii's Army installations, the change will be seamless. While all gates will continue the same hours of service and the same numbers of guards, some gates may begin to have extended hours of operation.
"Additional guards will allow us to open additional gates or keep certain gates open longer," said Lt. Col. Daniel Hulsebosch, director, DES, U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii. "At some gates, we have Department of the Army police officers and military police officers working. We can now use the police officers to do other tasks."
While the new security guards will be primarily assigned to access control, with new guidelines from the Army, they can also be used to augment police patrols: performing security checks and assisting with calls for service, force protection, random antiterrorism measures and other new duties, which contractors could not perform, said Gordon Wiborg, security division chief, DES.
"Department of the Army security guards, with nearly the same authority and much of the same training as DA civilian police, differ only in their areas of responsibility and scope of duties," Wiborg said. "In this way, the command is able to more fully leverage the current workforce to better serve our military community."
The academy's monthlong course covers a wide range of topics, including defensive tactics, chemical exposure, CPR and first aid, and weapons training, and ensures all security guards are ready to handle anything that may come their way.
"The Army's police officers go through three months of training," Wiborg said. "Our security guards here are getting the exact same training, in a condensed format. We cram nine-plus weeks of training into four."
Wiborg, who is responsible for overseeing the training each new security guard goes through, addressed not only the graduates, but also their friends and families who attended the ceremony, thanking them for their sacrifices.
"Guarding paradise is a real privilege," Wiborg said. "Whether you are new to the field, or a veteran professional, you will remember this course and the friends you have made here for the rest of your lives. I know I do."
The ceremony also recognized five security guard officers promoted to the rank of corporal.
Promoting employees is my favorite task, Hulsebosch said to the graduates during his remarks at the ceremony. It's a good feeling when you have openings at a higher level and are able to pull from people you've already hired, he continued.
"Just because you're all starting out at the security guard level," Hulsebosch said, "it's important to know that there is room for upper mobility here."
<u>DES Promotions and Graduations</u>
Promotion to Corporal
Aca,!AcCpl. Christian Castillo
Aca,!AcCpl. Sam Chong
Aca,!AcCpl. Caleb Fortune
Aca,!AcCpl. Jose Javier
Aca,!AcCpl. Jaymar Lanoza
Basic Academy Graduates
Watch Commander
Aca,!AcLt. Mitchell Ryder
Lead Security Guards
Aca,!AcCpl. Anthony Ernst
Aca,!AcCpl. Lucrecio Espanto
Aca,!AcCpl. Kaipo Giltner
Aca,!AcCpl. Arnold Rabanal
Aca,!AcCpl. Dino Rodrigues
Aca,!AcCpl. Christian Salinas
Security Guards
Aca,!AcOfficer Christopher Azarias
Aca,!AcOfficer Ronald Bass
Aca,!AcOfficer John Cabaluna
Aca,!AcOfficer Andrew Condlin
Aca,!AcOfficer Kurtis Duenas
Aca,!AcOfficer Justin Kaahanui
Aca,!AcOfficer Quinn Robinson
Aca,!AcOfficer Fiti Seloti
Aca,!AcOfficer Cody Throgmorton
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