In august of 2014 the Air Force Security Forces community was blind-sided by the sudden announcement that our beloved Security Forces Museum would be closed within a few days.
The Security Forces career field (formerly known as Air Police and Security Police) is the largest career field in the Air Force with a rich heritage of service, sacrifice, and diversity.
The brethren of Security Forces (formerly referred to as Defenders and Peacekeepers) known as the “Defenders of the Force” have a strong bond that has developed over years of seemingly insurmountable duties under assault of hostile forces and severe weather conditions.
Our Defenders never back down and abandon their posts. Regardless of natural or man-made conditions, we stand our ground and “Defend the Force” at all cost, we are “Defenders”
On December 17, 2014, Gary Boyd, Air Education and Training Historian announced that the Security Forces Museum would be reopened in spring of 2015. For this we are grateful. The Security Forces Museum reopening is temporary in anticipation of future consolidation of the Airman Heritage Museum and the Security Forces Museum.
It is understandable that the Air Force has limited funding and resources and therefore may be confronted with the challenge of preserving and honoring the service and sacrifice of all airmen. We the Security Forces community have a strong history of actively preserving our career field heritage and therefore request that the Air Force work with us in an effort to preserve the rich heritage of the Security Forces career field.
Jose J Sanchez
U.S. Air Force “Defender” 1991-1999
Founder / Editor-in-Chief, Defender Magazine
