The heightened force protection levels at military installations nationwide wasn’t tied to any specific threat, officials said, but is meant to add unpredictability to increase anti-terrorism measures.
The Springfield Air National Guard Base raised its threat level from Alpha to Bravo Friday morning, said Capt. Michael Gibson.
“Our security forces are taking measures needed to ensure the safety of our base,” Gibson said.
The Springfield base has increased its threat levels periodically over the past several years, he said. Guardsmen weren’t scheduled to drill this weekend at the base and no public activities were scheduled Friday.
The increased threat level isn’t expected to affect Clark County residents, Gibson said, and measures will be taken to ensure members of the Guard can get on base safely. The adjacent Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport isn’t affected.
Gibson couldn’t discuss if there was a specific threat or why the threat level was raised nationally. The 178th Wing remotely pilots Predator drones overseas.
“We ensure our base resources and personnel are protected and that’s one of our primary objectives, to ensure that we are able to accomplish our mission safely and securely,” Gibson said.
In 2013, about $2.3 million was spent to relocate a stretch of Ohio 794 to improve security at the Springfield base. In addition, a new $1.8 million main gate was completed in August in conjunction with the road relocation, but isn’t operational yet, Gibson said.
Many reasons could lead to elevating the threat level, said Rick Lohnes, a Clark County commissioner and retired commander of the 178th Wing. It’s not clear why the threat level was raised in this case, but it could be a general threat or an event like the recent case in Garland, Texas, in which two men opened fire outside a cartoon contest for artists depicting the Prophet Mohammed.
Lohnes was at Wright-Patt on Friday morning for a charity golf outing for the Miami Valley Military Affairs Association. The tournament was canceled because many non-military players didn’t have the proper security clearance due to the elevated threat level.
“It could be a myriad of things,” Lohnes said of why a threat level might be raised. “Obviously if they’ve increased the force protection, then they have credible threat evidence here in the U.S.”
Each threat level can lead to more strict procedures. During high threat levels, doors can be locked across a base and anyone entering or leaving will have to check in with security. Increased threat levels can mean a variety of procedures, such as bringing more security personnel on base or increased patrols.
“It makes the day-to-day process much more meticulous but they know what they’re doing,” Lohnes said.
At Wright-Patt, that could mean longer waits to get through base gates and to receive services on the sprawling military installation.
The heightened security marks the first time Wright-Patt has raised the force protection to that level since September 2011 in anticipation of the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
“As a matter of operational security, we do not discuss specific tactics that we are conducting,” said Col. John M. Devillier, Wright-Patterson commander. “However, measures will be randomly altered to produce a discernible element of unpredictability.”
Devillier encouraged people to allow for extra time to get on base.
The museum also shut down public access tours to hangars on base that house a fleet of historic presidential aircraft and record-breaking experimental planes and “Behind the Scenes” tours were canceled until further notice. The main museum complex remains open to the public. An armed Air Force guard was at the entrance to the museum Friday.
Northern Command at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., issued the directive to Department of Defense facilities throughout North America, said spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Grant Neeley.
The military defines force protection level Bravo as when an increased or more predictable threat of terrorist activity exists.
“It’s not tied to any specific threat,” he said. “It’s just one of the ways we ensure force protection for our service members and their families.”
Wright-Patt base security forces closed a road near Gate 19B off National Road on Thursday evening after security forces received a report of a suspicious package, said base spokeswoman Marie Vanover. However, the package was discovered to be detergent, and wasn’t tied to the heightened security level, she said.
‘Costly’ measures
Strengthening security measures at military installations makes sense, but there is a price for doing so, said Donna Schlagheck, chair of Wright State University’s Political Science Department and an expert on terrorism.
“They are costly,” she said. “And when there is not an attack, I think that it enhances the public’s numbness, if you will, to this phenomenon.
“That’s why the red-green-and-orange thing (federal color-coded terrorism alert levels) became so ridiculous,” Schlagheck added. “We were always stuck on the orange warning.”
Still, the paramount concern is safety, she said. And she noted that most people don’t hear the “chatter” that military and intelligence observers may sometimes hear.
“Why not be safe rather than sorry?” Schlagheck said.
“It would not be done without some good reason. Not that we need to know,” she added.
U.S. counter-terrorism experts are on alert for “lone wolf,” do-it-yourself terrorist plots inspired by the Islamic State extremist group.
In Ohio, federal authorities this year have charged a man in Columbus and a man in suburban Cincinnati in separate cases alleging they were plotting a U.S. terrorist attack.
“You don’t want to cry wolf to the point where people aren’t paying attention any more,” said Jeffrey Bale, associate professor of international policy and management at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterrey in Monterrey, Calif. “But at the same time, you can’t really afford not to increase security in a context in which the threat seems to be greater.”
“I don’t really see any way around it,” he added.”This is just the world we live in now.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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