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JBSA News
NEWS | April 19, 2023

Air Force Security Forces Center Information Fusion Cell enhances installation security

By Joe Bela Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center Public Affairs

The Air Force Security Forces Center Information Fusion Cell has incorporated a new tool to further protect installation resources and personnel.

The Defense Department’s current emphasis on installation security led AFSFC, a primary subordinate unit of the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center, to implement the Air Force-wide gathering and reporting of attempted unauthorized breaches by foreign nationals at all installations.

In 2022, the AFSFC IFC reported more than 830 unauthorized installation access incidents and 550 foreign national denials.

“What we’ve implemented is vital to our security forces’ capabilities and onsite force protection responsibilities,” said Leslie Thomas, AFSFC police services manager. “Unauthorized breaches remain a significant threat to the safety of our Air Force personnel and resources. Accurately identifying and reporting these incidents to the Department of Defense is critical to the readiness of U.S. forces around the world.”

Both installation breaches and controlled turnarounds, instances when people without authorized access are stopped and directed to turn around, are reported using the Air Force Joint Information System.

The AFSFC IFC provides unit-level security forces with a quarterly and annual breach trend analysis.

“This information gathering and sharing at the Information Fusion Cell is helping us identify deficiencies at the gates and prioritize them for corrective actions and, with each report, there are recommendations provided,” Thomas said. “However, we also understand each installation is unique and each incident may have extenuating circumstances.”

IFC also generates a bi-weekly newsletter focused on program reviews and actionable recommendations that are supported by data analytics.

“This insightful information is providing Defense Force Commanders with the incident mitigation tools, resource protection trends and predictive patrolling techniques that are empowering Defenders to take force protection and physical security to a new level,” Thomas said.