March ARB installs anti-terrorism device

  • Published
  • By Will Alexander
  • 452nd AMW Public Affairs
MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, CALIF. --  Tucson police had no clue what Fidel Antonio Lopez-Sanchez was up to two years ago when he sped pass gate guards at Davis-Monthan AFB in his Dodge pickup at 6:45 a.m. He had cocaine in his pocket, a loaded .45-caliber Taurus revolver under his seat, and the cabin of his truck reeked of alcohol. 

Although the motives behind the gate breach at Swan and Golf Links roads baffled security forces, there was one thing they were sure of: that truck wasn't getting on base. 

A few seconds beyond the gate was the DCS501, an advanced counter-terrorism barrier system, designed to stop a 15,000-pound truck at 50 mph. The guards activated it immediately. Lopez-Sanchez and his passenger crashed into the barrier, reducing the truck's speed from 50 mph to 0 mph in about an inch of space. 

The truck was destroyed, and the two suffered facial and head injuries that left them Hospitalized in critical condition. The debris was cleared with a forklift, a tow truck and a few tools, and the barricade - designed for multiple attacks - was ready for the next breach. 

March ARB contracted Delta Scientific Corp. to install the same system at the Main Gate earlier this year. 

The automatic pop-up barriers are now fully deployable. The barrier system was installed here to comply with a 2003 Air Force Chief of Staff memo directing that barriers be used at installation entry control points to stop hostile forces from employing vehicle-born improvised explosive devices. 

Col. Jeffrey K. Barnson, vice commander, 452nd Air Mobility Wing, received a demonstration of the barricade system and called it "another weapon in our security forces arsenal to protect and defend all of us" at March ARB. 

Before barriers were installed, gate sentries were required to shoot into the vehicles of gate runners who they determined were viable threats to the base, according to Master Sgt. Darryl Heisser, NCOIC of Police Services, 452nd Security Forces Squadron. The barrier system gives security forces a weaponless option to overcome threats without endangering innocent bystanders or damaging property. 

"It's an anti-terrorism force protection measure to stop a vehicle from entering the installation that could possibly be laden with explosives," said Master Sgt. Heisser. 

"It's actually designed to stop a 15,000-pound truck at 50 miles per hour, and it will stop it at zero penetration. Zero penetration means that type of vehicle hitting the barrier at that speed will not pass the barrier." 

Master Sgt. Heisser said the system was also crash-tested using a 65,000-pound dump truck traveling at 50 mph. 

"With the 65,000-pound truck, part of it did get past the barrier, but the vehicle was totally destroyed," he said. "It sheared the vehicle off the frame. When they pulled it out, the barrier still worked. It's amazing." 

So how does the barrier system work? 

In the lowered position, the barricade's ramp is flush with the road. The barriers are raised and lowered by hydraulic cylinders which are driven by a hydraulic power unit. 

The barriers are raised or lowered at the push of a button on the power unit. Although the barriers are 39 inches high at the fully raised position, they can do the job at 18 inches. 

"Eighteen inches is just enough to hit the axles," said Master Sgt. Heisser. "They grab the axle and the engine and they just tear it underneath the vehicle." 

The hydraulic power unit also has an emergency fast-operate feature that allows it to be raised faster. 

"I sleep well knowing our defenders are equipped with the latest tools and keeping watch 24 hours a day over our most effective weapon, the men and women of the 452d Air Mobility Wing," said Col. Barnson.