Chief Warrant Officer 3 Michelle Rodriguez recently took over for Lt. Shawn Kline as Navy Region Europe, Africa, Southwest Asia's (EURAFSWA) deputy regional security officer for anti-terrorism/force protection.

ATFP is responsible for forces, equipment, and handling issues regarding families and the communities in which service members and civilians live.

Security is a central feature in the eight lines of operation that maintain an installation's warfighting capabilities. Just as a ship performs lines of operation which provide a capability, Navy Region EURAFSWA bases perform the same lines of operation to provide capability to the fleet, joint, and allied forces.

While Region EURAFSWA and its installations have security plans in place, Kline says each person is important in protecting everybody living and working on or around the bases.

"Every single person, be it civilian, service member, or family member, plays a key role in protecting the installation," said Kline. "Everyone has 'Mark 1' eyeballs out there in the towns, doing the daily shopping, eating dinner; they're out there observing everything."

The anti-terrorism policies are a collective and proactive effort on detecting and ultimately preventing terrorist acts against civilians, service members, and their families, according to Rodriguez -- who assumed EURAFSWA's security officer role after Kline's departure in December.

"As an example, we just coordinated with NCIS (Navy Criminal Investigative Service) and DoDEA (Department of Defense Education Activity) to conduct a route analysis on the bus routes within the community," said Rodriguez. "This is to ensure our kids are [as] safe as possible while transiting throughout the community."

Rodriquez said a key factor in security is keeping the community informed and reminding them security is everyone's responsibility. The safety of every family will greatly improve if all families take ownership of their community.

Region's security department, as well as the installations, regularly work with and depend on their close relationships with local law enforcement officials to provide optimal security levels.

"We live and die by our friendships with the local police and military," said Kline. "If we didn't have our comradely, working relationships and friendships, we wouldn't get half the stuff done that we do."

Through the lines of operation, installations are force multipliers which maximize combat capability of operational units. The other eight lines of operation are air operations, port operations, safety, housing, Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR), Fleet and Fleet and Family Services, and what is called the core -- the fuels, water, and power which keep the bases running.

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For more news from Commander, Navy Region Europe, Africa, Southwest Asia, visit http://www.navy.mil/.