Sept. 28, 2001 — Gov. Charles W. Turnbull has ordered the V.I. National Guard to work with local and federal agencies to provide security at the territory’s two airports, a move that is in line with President George W. Bush’s directive on Thursday.
On Friday, Turnbull said he ordered Adj. Gen. Cleve McBean of the V.I. National Guard to work with the U.S. National Guard Bureau, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Port Authority and the Attorney General’s Office to prepare the deployment of troops at the two airports.
"I have directed [McBean] to take the necessary action to provide personnel for supplemental security at the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport and the Cyril E. King Airport," Turnbull said Friday afternoon.
Once deployment plans are approved by the National Guard Bureau, he said, the costs will be covered by the federal government. Turnbull said that could happen as soon as Monday. He didn’t say how many VING troops would be involved.
Airport security was added to the National Guard’s growing list of civil support and homeland defense missions on Thursday at Bush's direction. The FAA had asked the Defense Department to coordinate the use of about 5,000 National Guard members at 422 commercial airports nationwide for the next four to six months.
According to the National Guard Bureau, the FAA will train the National Guard troops in airport security techniques. The move is believed to be the first time that National Guard troops are being employed in such a way across the country.
Following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, Bush authorized Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to call as many as 50,000 National Guard and military reserve troops to active duty. U.S. military planners have assigned allotments for 35,500 of them — 13,000 from the Air Force, 10,000 from the Army, 7,500 from the Marines, 3,000 from the Navy and 2,000 from the Coast Guard.
The forces were being called up to provide port operations, medical support, engineer support, general civil support and homeland defense.
