Security Work: A Look Back At My Many Years Performing Security Duties In The U.S, Navy And The Defense Department

I recently had a conversation with an active-duty U.S. Navy 2^nd Class Master-at-Arms. 

Master-at-Arms perform law enforcement, security and force protection aboard Navy ships and shore bases. 

The young sailor read some of my pieces about my many years doing security work for the Defense Department before I became a full-time writer, first as a teenage sailor aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk during the Vietnam War, and later on a Navy tugboat at the nuclear submarine base at Holy Lock, Scotland. 

After serving in the Navy, I performed security work as a Defense Department civilian at the Defense Personnel Support Center, known locally as “the Quartermaster” (seen in the above photo) in South Philadelphia, and later at the Naval Support Center in Northeast Philadelphia. 

As the administrative officer of a Defense Department command, I oversaw all security programs, served as an investigating officer, and performed security briefings and seminars for the command's military and civilian employees. 

After 9/11, my security work at the Navy base doubled.    

He asked me about security after the 9/11 terrorist attack, and I asked him about present-day security in the Navy. It was a most interesting conversation. 

I'm proud of my service in the Navy and the Defense Department

I suppose I was destined to do security work, as evidenced by the above photo of me when I was about ten years old guarding our Christmas tree.

The above photo is of me on guard duty as a sailor at Boot Camp in 1970 when I was 17 years old, and the below photo is of me at my desk in my office at the Quartermaster where I oversaw security for the Defense Department command in the 1990s. 

You can read some of my pieces on the Navy and the Defense Department via the below links:

Paul Davis On Crime: A Look Back At The Multi-Million Dollar Defense Contract Fraud and Bribery Case At The Philadelphia Quartermaster

Paul Davis On Crime: A Look Back At The 9/11 Attack On The Pentagon

Paul Davis On Crime: The Philadelphia Quartermaster Revisited

Paul Davis On Crime: On Yankee Station: A Look Back At The Aircraft Carrier USS Kitty Hawk During The Vietnam War, 1970-1971