Sept. 11 is nearly 10 years gone but Selfridge Air National Guard Base still seems to be on hyper-alert.
An event was held today to unveil a new border security center and a cadre of media types converged on the base. They were herded into a parking lot outside the gate where at least a dozen armed federal agents were checking IDs and confirming that each reporter or camera crew was on the prepared list of names compiled by the base’s PR people.
Three Sheriff’s Department cars were also nearby, and two snarling, bomb-sniffing dogs poked their noses under and around each media vehicle.
The security level at the Harrison Township base is not what it was right after the Sept. 11 attacks but, a decade later, this was quite a show of force. I guess the military doesn’t trust us reporters.
Of course, several high-ranking federal officials were on hand for the ribbon cutting ceremony inside the base, along with the governor and three members of Congress. And it appears Border Patrol brass were not going to take any chances.
As a color guard formation entered the ceremonies, led by a traditional Scottish bagpiper from the Border Patrol, I saw something I never thought I would see: A man dressed in a skirt with a holstered pistol on his hip.
