Serpentine tank trap at the gate just the tip of post-9/11 security at Hill Air Force Base

By Denise Albiston

December 1, 2004 | HILL AIR FORCE BASE -- At speeds slower than a walking pace, I guided my black 2000 GMC Yukon full of car seats and empty fruit snack wrappers from side to side through the 10 barriers known as the Serpentine. With each passing curve my shoulders cringed waiting for the high-pitched sound of screeching iron digging into the side of my sport utility vehicle. The whole time I was thinking that if I hit one of these things, my husband will strangle me.

I was barely clearing each barrier with less that 2 feet on either side of my Yukon. I began to feel as if I was a downhill slalom racer in the 2002 Olympics, you know those skiers that barely slip past gates with inches to spare at speeds that remind you of watching NASCAR. As I cleared each barrier, it became a game of highs and lows. With each curve I successfully navigated, I let out a sigh of relief just before gasping for air to brace myself for the next barrier. I felt my heart pounding in my chest like a tribal drum thumping for the call of battle. As the anticipation grew, the last barrier came into sight: it was moment of truth. With white knuckles and sweaty palms, I made the final turn.

With that final swerve around the last barrier, I claimed victory over the Serpentine, Hill Air Force Base's newest form of gate security.

The Serpentine, more fondly called a tank trap by military personnel averages about 10 barriers for each gate at the base. Each of the barriers is made of two, 5-foot pieces of angled steel bolted together to form a large X. The tank traps at one time were freshly marked with orange reflector tape, but now they are battle worn to a rusty pink. They display their multicolored horizontal battle scars like the earned stripes on a seasoned military master sergeant's arm.

"Yeah, they make me real nervous in my new truck," a black, 2004 Ford F-150, said 1st Lt. Rob Goza, deputy chief of public affairs at Hill Air Force Base. "I know the first ding is coming."

Goza said it's hard to believe that they were just installed in early September, shortly after a Connecticut man crashed through one of the base's gates.

According to an August 2004 Deseret News article, the Connecticut man stands accused of accessing Hill Air Force Base illegally. The article stated that when the man was asked to get out of his vehicle by security personnel, he sped off, crashing into one of the gates with such force it flew off the hinges.

Since 9/11, security needs at all federal and government areas for the United States has increased world wide. For Hill Air Force Base, the security at the gates have notably increased.

Before 9/11, the gates at the base were buzzing with civilians entering and exiting with ease. In 1996, a delivery truck could drive-up to the main gates, provide handwritten documentation that a package was to be delivered to an address on the base, and the driver, truck and package were all admitted inside the gates. Now, without a security pass and military identification, nothing is allowed on the base.

The Serpentine is a visible and intimidating part of security at the base, said Chief Master Sgt. Patrick Wolcott.

However, the Serpentine was only the first phase of security that a visitor must pass through in order to gain access to the base.

After successfully passing through th Serpentine, my Yukon was quickly approached by a young man dressed in military fatigues. The fatigues were dark and sounded stiff and heavy, as if they had been over starched in the laundry.

His green camouflaged hat was pulled down low enough to touch the rim of his no-name sunglasses that concealed a sense of boredom. The young soldier didn't look old enough to buy beer at the Maverik Country Store on the corner but carried the M-16 over his left shoulder as naturally as a student carrying a backpack.

The soldier politely asked to see my pass to enter the base. When I said I didn't actually have a pass, two security officers in blue uniforms ushered me and my vehicle into a secured lot next to the gate. Quickly, the men in blue asked to see my driver's license and the registration for my Yukon. The men quickly glanced at my identification, looking twice at me and the 5-year-old photo on my drivers license, then asked me to follow them to a small trailer about the size of a snow shack.

Inside the trailer at a small desk sat a soldier wearing a T-shirt and navy blue sweats that covered the cast on his right leg. He asked what department had invited me onto the base. I said the Public Affairs Office and that an agent was supposed to meet me at the gate. The young man in the shack asked that I remain with him until the tardy public affairs agent arrived.

While waiting, I noticed a 9mm Beretta resting on the right side of one of the security officers dressed in blue. I, as innocently as possible, asked the security officer if he had any bullets to go with that gun. In response, after looked at me like I was an idiot, he quickly rolled his eyes and walked away leaving me behind at the small trailer.

Shortly after the security officer in the blue uniform disregarded my bullet question, the tardy public affairs agent arrived at the trailer to take responsibility me. However, my Yukon was left at the secured lot with a vehicle pass on the left dash granting permission to have it searched and/or seized by military personnel while it was on the base. I also was issued a temporary visitor's pass with strict instructions from the solider in the trailer. He emphasized that the pass must be destroyed after exiting the base or it's a felony.

"Those gates catch more crime before it comes onto the base than any other thing," Wolcott said. Goza added the gates and security guards catch people who are not authorized to be on the base as well as those who are authorized but may be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

The military defines a security threat, more or less, as anything or anyone who poses a threat to the national interests of the United States, Goza said. He added that Hill Air Force Base defines a security threat as someone or something that poses a threat to the personnel and equipment of the base.

Goza said information and intelligence officers from the base establish the level of security needed on their assessment of world, national and local conditions gathered from local police and national authorities. Wolcott said each Thursday, those officers meet with the base's security officials to determine if there is a threat to the $12 billion Department of Defense industrial complex and one of Utah's leading employers. He added that if there is, then the officers and security officials decide what they can do to stop it.

"The base's security is guided by enforced protection conditions based upon a postulated threat," Wolcott said.

Gathering information from surrounding environments is critical to any security plan, Wolcott said. He added that it is important to remember that since 1974, the military has had a policy of randomly changing security measures at its bases to ensure security remains unpredictable. He said since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the military now practices random antiterrorism measures.

"Part of an overall program is designed to make it really hard for terrorists to determine what happens on the base. They keep us from becoming predictable," Goza said.

Any act of terrorism requires intelligence, Goza said. Without good intelligence, such as knowing which gate has the least security or when a shift change will happen, an operation isn't going to work. He said the random antiterrorism measures ensure that there is no good time for an attack because the base's activities are always changing.

"They'll never know when we do it or where we'll do it because it's always changing," Goza said.

Wolcott said civilians are able to recognize some security measures at Hill Air Force Base, but the base also provides a substantial amount of security at the Utah Test and Training Range. He said the training range is a huge chunk of ground located in Utah's west desert that's about 1,562 square miles or nearly the size of Yellowstone National Park.

The training range is seen as an asset used heavily in the military, Wolcott said, especially right now. Since some of the land included in the range mirrors the geographical features of countries such as Iraq and Saudi Arabia, training at the location has increased in recent years.

Wolcott, when asked, was reluctant to release the exact amount of security present at any time on the testing range or base by responding with, "Nice weather we're having today."

However, when pushed for an answer, he said, "There's enough out there."

A more official interpretation of, "There's enough out there," was issued by Goza, the deputy chief of public affairs said, "We have a robust and professional security force with asignificant presence to protect the assets and the personnel on this base."

According to a May 2004 article in the Salt Lake Tribune, about 50 armed civilian guards were hired to provide security at Hill's entry gates. Officials during the interview said that the guards are meant to augment active-duty forces being deployed elsewhere to protect the interests of the United States in the Middle East and elsewhere. The article said that last year Hill Air Force Base was able to use National Guard units out of Idaho, but this year, 80 percent of those troops have been deployed to different stations in the United States and the Middle East.

"As far as I know, this is the first time in the history of th base that private security guards are being used.

Because our own forces have been so tasked, we need this additional personnel," said Hill spokeswoman, 2nd Lt. Caroline Wellman in an interview with the Salt Lake Tribune.

The Air Force awarded Worldwide Security Services Ltd., an affiliate of Covenant Services Worldwide, the contract on April 7, 2004. The Salt Lake Tribune article stated that the $23 million contract called for Worldwide Security Services to supply armed civilian guards for Hill and 10 other military installations.

Goza said the civilian guards have the authority to act as entry controllers only. He added that this does allow for detaining of personnel until the arrival of Security Forces, or military personnel, should the need arise. Goza said the current contract runs through December 2005 when funding runs out. Hill Air Force Base had not responded to questions about what will happen when the contract expires.

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