Wing plans office protects Buckley from behind scenes

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Phillip Houk
  • 460th Space Wing Public Affairs
The award-winning 460th Space Wing Plans and Programs Office provides the background support required to ensure security-related policies are followed, allowing smooth operations with outside agencies and protecting service members from themselves.

The responsibilities of the wing plans and programs office, referred to as XP, range from providing services for the base and its partners to advising the commander on various situations that need his approval.

"We do everything from arms control, basing actions, critical access management, we run the (Crisis Action Team) and are the (operations security) managers of the base," said 1st Lt. Liz Dunsworth, 460th SW XP chief CAT director.

"We are the eyes and ears of the commander for the various programs that we are responsible for," said Kevin Stocking, 460th SW XP office director. "We represent him at various working groups and across wings for specific projects."

One such program the XP office is in charge of is basing actions. This program oversees what outside agencies and units may be authorized to operate on Buckley.

"Basing actions are for units that want to explore the options to relocate onto Buckley Air Force base," Stocking said. "We are not the approving authority; we provide options for the approving authority."

Other programs run by the XP office fall under signature management. This area includes managing the base OPSEC program.

"Signature management is essentially controlling what our adversaries know about us," Stocking said.

Part of signature management requires the XP team to ensure policies are followed to protect personal and military-related information from accidental release. An example of protective actions is enforcing the base's 100-percent shred policy requiring all paper documents to be shredded.

"We have over 45 members who work very hard within the squadrons, and we have a robust program where we go through dumpsters and do trash audits to make sure we are complying with our 100 percent shred policy," said Gretchen Myers, 460th SW XP plans analyst. "Through these programs, we have drastically decreased the amount of (personally identifiable information) found on base.

If you have blown your nose on it, eaten off of it or received it as pre-printed material, you can throw it away. Other than that, all documents on Buckley need to be shredded, Myers said.
XP has received many awards for their hard work and dedication with the signature management program.

"Over the past four years the program has been healthy and continues to get healthier as we go along," Myers said, crediting the support of squadron, group and wing commanders on base.

XP has earned several 2013 Air Force Space Command awards:
· OPSEC Organizational Excellence
· Military Deception Officer of the Year: 1st Lt. Liz Dunsworth, 460th SW XP chief Crisis Action Team director
· OPSEC Officer of the Year: Gretchen Myers, 460th SW XP plans analyst
· OPSEC Multimedia Poster Contest: Staff Sgt. Ashley Glasgow, 460th Security Forces Squadron assistant flight chief

The XP office works behind the scenes to provide services and support to protect Buckley, allowing the base to continue unparalleled performance in space-based missile defense.