National Guard members to help with Nellis security

Jace Radke

Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2003 | 11:05 a.m.

Clark County employee Joe Watts has been following the build-up to a possible war with Iraq, so he figured his Nevada Air National Guard unit would be called to active duty. He just didn't expect to be stationed so close to home.

"I thought we'd be taking over for active duty personnel at Fort Irwin near Barstow, Calif.," Watts said Tuesday from his Las Vegas home. "I didn't think we'd be guarding Nellis, but I signed the contract and put on the uniform, so I'll go where I'm told."

Watts, a 29-year-old who holds the rank of specialist, is one of about 130 Southern Nevada guard members being activated to handle some of the security duties at Nellis Air Force Base. The guard members are part of the headquarters and support elements of the 221st Cavalry, an M1A1 Abrams tank armored squadron, and will be on the job by early February.

Another 30 to 35 guardsmen with the 221st will also be activated to provide security at the state's Air National Guard Base in Reno, and about 35 other soldiers will be activated to fill administrative roles, guard spokeswoman April Conway said.

The activation will allow Nellis to make better use of the personnel it already had and will return its security forces to normal shifts and training schedules, base spokesman Sgt. Rich Covington said.

"Since Sept. 11, our security forces have been working extended shifts, and have had to cut training," Covington said. "This will allow us to get back to normal and free up personnel if they are ordered to deploy somewhere else."

Twelve and 14-hour days have not been uncommon for security at Nellis since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, said Maj. Mario Mathis, commander of the 99th Security Forces Group at Nellis.

Thirty-eight Air Force reservists upon whom Mathis has relied to pick up some of the slack will be sent home when the guardsmen arrive.

"If the reservists had not been here we would have been in dire straits," Mathis said. "Security is one of the career fields that is under strain across the Air Force."

Operation Enduring Freedom and threats to homeland security have taxed the Air Force's security personnel, Air Force officials said.

Master Sgt. Peter Woody is among the 38 reservists who have been stationed at Nellis since Oct. 2001.

"We were initially briefed that we would be active for 90 to 120 days, but nobody really knew how long we would be here," said Woody, 50, a security guard for the Clark County Aviation Department. "If you would have told me when I was 18 that I would still be in the Air Force at age 50, I'd say you were crazy."

Now that he is being relieved of his duties at Nellis, Woody plans to go back to his job at McCarran International Airport.

"I guess we all have some new things to learn at the airport, because security has changed pretty drastically while I was at Nellis," Woody said.

The guardsmen, who will replace Woody and the other reservists, will serve at least a year on active duty. Two years is the normal activation limit for guardsmen, but the limit has been extended in the past.

"It's a big commitment, but with all the stuff going on in the world I kind of figured it was coming," Watts said.

Watts rents a house, but is looking to get out of his lease so that he can move in with family before being activated. He plans to return to his job as a process server at the Clark County District Attorney's office when his active duty stint ends.

Clark County holds the jobs of guardsmen open for one year, and allows guardsmen to take positions within the county for five years without having to go through the application process.

"I don't like being away from work for that long, but I'm lucky because I know I'll have a job when I get finished," Watts said."