Guardsmen train for duty at state’s regional airports

Jeffrey Libby

Thursday, Oct. 4, 2001 | 9:44 a.m.

Nevada National Guard soldiers on Wednesday lay on their bellies behind sandbags, popping off rounds from M4 rifles. Practicing at an open desert firing range a few miles north of Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, they were preparing for duty at Nevada's three regional airports.

The rifles, snub-nosed versions of M-16 assault rifles used by regular U.S. Army soldiers, shoot bullets similar in size to those used to take down deer and other game.

The 114 troops pulled from several guard units around the state will form two armed task forces, Task Force North and Task Force South. They are scheduled to go on armed patrol within a week at Nevada's three regional airports. They will wear full battle camouflage, but with soft caps rather than the kevlar combat helmets.

Similar units are being stationed at airports across the country in response to a request last week by President Bush to tighten airport security after the Sept. 11 terrorist hijackings that left more than 5,000 people dead.

"It's the first time in recent memory that the National Guard will assist at airports," Lt. April Conway, spokeswoman for Nevada's Air and Army Guards, said. "It will be a whole new ball of wax for everyone."

The weaponry training, along with completion of medical physicals and paperwork, will bring soldiers up-to-date for the nearly six-month mission, Conway said. All soldiers have completed at least a 13-week basic training. Many are veterans with many years of military service.

Soldiers will also complete two days of training with the Federal Aviation Administration before arriving at airports. Jerry Snyder, Western regional spokesman for the FAA, said Wednesday that the training exercises were confidential and "cannot be discussed in any part or any portion."

Debbie Millett, a spokeswoman for McCarran International Airport, said airport officials do not know of an arrival date for the soldiers, but will comply with the president's directive.

"We know they (the National Guard) will be maintaining a presence in the airport terminals for an indefinite period of time, and that certainly will include a presence at the security checkpoints at the A, B, C and D gates," she said.

Sgt. 1st Class Glenn Guy, a 19-year veteran of the armed services and former non-commissioned officer in the Army 82nd Airborne Division, will serve as the ground commander at McCarran International Airport, overseeing 65 troops.

As soldiers shot targets from behind sandbags Wednesday, Guy put the mission in perspective over a bean burrito fresh from an MRE (meals-ready-to-eat).

"It's a good mission, something we can do to help out with everything else that's going on," he said. "We'll be protecting the citizens of Las Vegas and all our visitors, all our friends, keeping them happy."

The only other time Guy worked with live ammunition among civilians was in the 1980s while guarding a nuclear plant from protestors in New Hampshire. That was a situation termed as "civil unrest."

Guy expects the situation to be less tense at the airport, he said.

From e-mailing friends serving duty in airports elsewhere in the country, including Pennsylvania and Utah, he's learned that most travelers are approaching soldiers to thank them for their service.

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