Local Troops Heading to LAX

The clatter of M-16 rifles being cocked and uncocked spilled from the auditorium as men and women in green camouflage hoisted the automatic weapons and fiddled with their safeties.

“Make sure the magazine is secure,” Air National Guard Master Sgt. Clay Jones urged the trainees, some of whom hadn’t fired a weapon in a year. “You don’t want the magazine to fall out in the airport. It looks bad.”

And in a high-profile operation designed to boost public confidence in airport security, looking bad is not an option. Starting Oct. 19, the Air National Guard station at Port Hueneme will provide 110 heavily armed soldiers to patrol Los Angeles International Airport as a backup to existing security forces stationed there.

Oxnard Airport also will get five soldiers from the Army National Guard in Oxnard. Two will be on duty at any one time.

The guardsmen and women began training for their six-month deployments this week, learning a combination of police and military skills to handle potential terror threats at LAX. Next week they will be further trained by the FBI and Federal Aviation Administration.

Air Guard officials stressed, though, that the mission is to shore up airport police and security, not to hunt down terrorists. They said a large part of the job is putting civilians at ease in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

“I’d say about 98% of this is public relations,” said Maj. Randy Bancroft, a commercial pilot and commander of the LAX operation. “We want to restore public confidence and assure people that flying is safe. But we do have a security threat.”

The airport duty isn’t the only mission for the 146th Airlift Wing, the largest guard unit in California.

Aircraft and personnel from the station are taking part in classified missions as part of the military buildup around Afghanistan, officials said.

Most of those taking part in airport duty are volunteers. Most are professionals who normally report for duty one weekend a month but saw a chance to help out in a time of national crisis. They will be stationed at an undisclosed location near the airport and will be unable to come home except on days off.

“The difficulty will be to make sure all the bills are paid when I am gone,” said Michael Chinery, 40, a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy from Santa Clarita. “But I want to help out my country, and this will make people feel better than a $300 check from Bush.”

James Murphy, 47, of Nipomo manages a software company. “Whatever small amount I can do to contribute to the safety of the country I will do,” he said.

Training consists of classroom lectures on assessing risks, handling the M-16 and various law enforcement scenarios.

Troops Will Report to Airport Security

Some troops will be stationed at fixed positions at the airport, while others will rove. Intelligence on potential terrorist threats will be shared with Bancroft and other security personnel.

Master Sgt. Alan Bice, head of security at the Air National Guard station, said the troops will be under the command of airport security.

“The most difficult part will be dealing with the frustrations of the passengers,” Bice said. “They may voice their anger with new security at anyone wearing a uniform. Everyone we have selected has been carefully screened to make sure they are mature and even-keeled.”

Elsewhere on the base, guardsmen were getting certified on M-16 rifles using computer simulators. The rifles are empty but connected by wire to a computer, which throws up targets. The guns sound real and kick, but they fire laser beams.

Master Sgt. Jones, who does small-arms instruction on the base, worries about taking high-powered rifles like the M-16 to a crowded place like LAX.

“The bullet will penetrate a quarter-inch of steel,” he said, noting that any accidental discharge could easily kill someone.

Depending on the level of threats, gun magazines may be kept in the rifle or carried on belts.

Soldiers Told Not to Put Fingers on Trigger

Members of the unit were warned not to put their fingers on the trigger unless they had a target, to keep the guns slung over their shoulders, to keep safeties on and not to aim unless they planned to fire.

Liz Cornejo, a 43-year-old drug and alcohol counselor from Ventura, passed her marksmanship test.

“That was easier than I thought,” she said. “I thought I’d get a stronger recoil.”

Cornejo, who served in Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm, said she is looking forward to her new mission.

“It’s part of the job,” she said. “It’s the reason we are here.”