PENSACOLA NAVAL AIR STATION, Fla. \u2014 For nearly 15 years after the 9\/11 terrorist attacks and more than eight years since the mass shooting at Fort Hood in Texas, Pensacola Naval Air Station has remained an unusually open U.S. military base \u2014 until now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The nation’s first\u00a0naval\u00a0air station and home of the popular Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron this month has enacted strict new, permanent security measures intended to separate the nearly 1 million tourists who visit the base each year from the thousands of\u00a0sailors,\u00a0Marines\u00a0and other\u00a0military\u00a0employees who work on the base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Security experts say the surprising thing is that base has remained relatively open for so long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It appears they are late to the game on this,” said Scott White, a professor of homeland security and security management at Drexel University in Iowa and former intelligence officer for the Canadian defense department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
White said the previously open environment at the base is a rare reminder of different era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Nowadays every\u00a0military\u00a0installation is a potential target as is anyone in a uniform,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Base officials say they have worked through the years to prioritize safety while accommodating the steady stream of tourists. But Cmdr. Shawn Dominguez, executive officer of the base, said the base had to align itself with Department of Defense security standards that physically separate tourists and other unauthorized visitors from\u00a0military\u00a0operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dominguez, who has been at the base for only a few months, said it was unusual that the public had become accustomed to relatively easy access there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The base has been here for a long time and brings a tremendous economic benefit to the community,” he said. “But I think everybody understands that in this security environment, the changes are necessary.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The base now has separate entrance gates \u2014 one for\u00a0military\u00a0members and base employees and another for tourists and other visitors. The gates are about three miles apart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the past, large warning signs made it clear that unauthorized people were not allowed on specific areas of the base and base security kept close watch on those areas. Under the new system, tourists will be denied access to\u00a0military\u00a0areas without passing internal guard booths and roadblocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Visitors will also have to show identification and carry a visitor pass issued in their name. The pass must be presented to security officials at their destination. Anyone visiting\u00a0military\u00a0buildings or training areas must be issued a special visitor pass and be escorted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thousands of tourists enter the base several mornings each week from March through October to watch the Blue Angels practice. The practices are often followed by pilot autograph signings inside the National Museum of\u00a0Naval\u00a0Aviation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also located inside the base are two historic forts, which date to the late 1700s, a popular Civil War-era lighthouse, a sprawling\u00a0military\u00a0cemetery, an 18-hole\u00a0military\u00a0golf course and beach recreation area for active duty and retired\u00a0military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Separating the tourists and recreational aspects of the base from its\u00a0military\u00a0operations has been complicated by the way the base is laid out with tourist and recreation areas near working\u00a0military\u00a0personnel, said Harold Saintcloud, the base’s anti-terrorism and security officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Department of Defense media office declined comment on base security issues in a statement emailed to The Associated Press. The department also declined to comment on whether the situation at\u00a0Naval\u00a0Air Station Pensacola is unique because of the large number of tourists visiting the base each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Retired\u00a0Navy\u00a0pilot Mikal “Butch” Kissick owns Wings Aviation, a\u00a0military\u00a0memorabilia and supply store just outside the gates of the\u00a0Naval\u00a0Air Station Pensacola. Kissick said his customer base is mostly\u00a0Naval\u00a0aviators who work on the base and that he isn’t concerned about not having tourists passing by his store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This was long overdue,” he said. “I have often thought about how easy it was to get onto the base. They needed to tighten security.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PENSACOLA NAVAL AIR STATION, Fla. \u2014 For nearly 15 years after the 9\/11 terrorist attacks and more than eight years since the mass shooting at Fort Hood in Texas, Pensacola Naval Air Station has remained an unusually open U.S. military base \u2014 until now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":48044,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":65,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[12,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3052],"class_list":["post-22211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-your-navy"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"ZQWV5BVTDZFFVBSSBNTONUP26Y","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-navy\/2016\/02\/25\/security-changes-mark-end-of-era-at-pensacola-navy-base\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n