JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas – A joint training initiative, spearheaded by the Air Force Security Forces Center’s Detachment 2, is helping strengthen brig and corrections operations across the Department of Defense.
Department of the Air Force Defenders are now teaching at the month-long U.S. Navy Center for Security Forces Corrections School in Chesapeake, Virginia, through an agreement with the Navy and a restructuring of Air Force positions at Det. 2.
Previously, DAF Defenders only attended the school as students en-route to assignments at brig operations or lower-level confinement facilities.
To enable the change, three DAF operational positions – one technical sergeant and two staff sergeants – at the Chesapeake Brig, Virginia, were migrated to instructor billets Oct. 1. In return, the DAF garnered 90 additional training slots for Airmen and Guardians.
In addition to efforts at Det. 2, Edward Outlaw, director of Air Force Confinement and Corrections at AFSFC, worked with the Navy to support the change in billets.
“This restructure and the associated agreement with the Navy gives security forces commanders the opportunity to have confinement specialists at their locations,” AFSFC Det. 2 Commander Maj. Stephan Goodwin said. “This, in turn, will give their unit an increased capability in running their Level I facility should they have one.”
Tech. Sgts. Curtis Kapp and Scott Butte are the first DAF Naval Corrections Specialist Instructors at the school and are responsible for training approximately 400 Sailors and Airmen annually to perform administrative, operational and unarmed self-defense and civil disturbance procedures within military correctional facilities.
Having DAF instructors at the Navy schoolhouse adds a fully joint perspective, and standardizes knowledge, skills and perspectives, Butte said.
“It gives the joint team a chance to see the different approaches other branches bring to the brig mission, Level I confinement facilities, and for instructors and students to learn from those members,” Butte said.
“It definitely builds understanding between each branch,” added Kapp. “Students benefit from knowing the different experiences of each instructor and how what they’re learning can relate to experiences they have had.”
In addition to Air Force instructors at the Navy course, Navy law enforcement and force protection specialists recently took part in a beta test at the DAF Combatives Course to determine whether the course could be approved as a form of self-defense instruction, further leveling the training and experience of brig teams.
“(Attending the combatives course) definitely helps because every branch of service that works at a brig has their own experiences and training techniques for how to deal with inmates,” said Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Kyle Bradshaw, a recent graduate of the week-long combatives course.
As a brig escort, Bradshaw escorts inmates to appointments to see medical teams or legal advisors. He also picks up or transfers inmates to other brigs in the United States and occasionally outside of the U.S.
“The training I received at the combatives course was super beneficial to my line of work and is something I will utilize for myself and possibly teach my fellow Sailors in the fleet,” Bradshaw said. “As Navy LE personnel, we’re always taught to use the minimum amount of force necessary to stop the threat. The training I received from the Air Force course fits that criteria.”
“While the use of force isn't frequently required, we want all personnel working at a Navy brig to be comfortable and experienced with physical conflict should they need to defend themselves,” Goodwin said.
Currently, the Air Force operates out of four consolidated brigs operated by the Navy – Chesapeake, Virginia; Charleston, South Carolina; Miramar, California; and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.