Guard members arrive for airport security training

By Leslie Miller, Associated Press writer

MILFORD -- Alycia Gelin's fatigues hang a little large on her petite, 5-foot-2 frame, but the 19-year-old private first class in the Massachusetts National Guard doesn't think clothes matter much in what she calls "the grand scheme of things."

Gelin, a college student who was called up Monday to help give extra protection to seven state airports, said family and country top her list of what's important.

"I'm ready to help any time," said the Pepperell native, who will answer phones, process paperwork and perform miscellaneous tasks for the next six months. "This is big. My kids are going to learn about this in school. I can say I was there."

The 150 soldiers who reported for processing at National Guard Headquarters yesterday -- students, police officers, shop assistants -- share a hunger to help out in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. And they're sure that what they're doing will make a difference.

"I really felt that I needed to do something," said Capt. Margaret Oglesby of East Longmeadow. Though she hadn't received her orders yet, she knew she'd be leaving her job as an assistant chief probation officer in the Springfield District Court as well as her three children, ages 10, 6 and 13 months.

"I think we need to build the confidence of the American people, that we need to go on with our lives," Oglesby said. "It's very important that we not be paralyzed by the terrorism."

The soldiers spent yesterday in the sprawling, three-story headquarters building getting photographed and fingerprinted, filling out paperwork, listening to briefings and waiting -- cheerfully -- in line.

Some will take pay cuts. Some may only see their families on weekends. Some may have new worries about child care.

Sgt. William Davidson, a Manchester-By-The-Sea police officer, has a wife and daughter he doesn't think he'll see very much for the next six months.

"We're like the rest of America," he said. "We're civilians on the outside. We do this part time, but anything to help. A lot of people want to find ways to help, and by putting on this uniform that helps in a large way."

The troops will undergo two days of intensive training before being moved to airports on Friday. Acting Gov. Jane M. Swift last week called up the National Guard, at the urging of President Bush, to help bolster security.

The Guard members will be stationed at Logan Airport in Boston; Worcester Airport; Hanscom Field in Bedford; Westover Air Base in Chicopee; Barnstable Municipal Airport; and the airports on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. They will be armed with 9mm handguns.

Particular attention will be paid to Logan Airport, where two passenger jets were hijacked on Sept. 11 and crashed into the World Trade Center.

"It's going to be under the microscope," said Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Morin, of Leominster, an officer with the Immigration and Naturalization Service. He'll be posted at Logan's security checkpoints, where he thinks the soldiers will have a big impact because of their attention to detail and their extra eyes and ears.

"I think the soldiers will do an awesome job," Oglesby said.

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