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Houston Airport System
July 14, 2008
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In the Wild, Wild, West and in many people’s imaginations Texas is known for its cowboys and horseback riding. While that label might perfectly describe some parts of the Lone Star state, in Houston the description falls a little short.
Bustling with a population of nearly five million, Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States. However, few of its five million residents own or ride horses on a regular basis. The one place you are certain to find folks riding horseback on any given day is probably the least expected – George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH).
As part of the Houston Airport System’s (HAS) high-tech/high-touch approach to airport safety and security, a group of horseback riding volunteers known as the Airport Rangers have been saddling up at IAH for almost five years now.
Inaugurated in December of 2003, the Airport Rangers initiative has badged more than 800 local volunteers and today counts on some 500 active rangers to patrol the 10,000 acres-plus perimeter around Houston’s largest airport.
“Having the Airport Rangers at Bush Intercontinental has worked for both horse lovers and HAS. We get the extra level of security and the volunteers have plenty of room to ride,” says Rick Vacar, director of the Houston Airport System. “Although there have been sightings of deer-poachers and all-terrain vehicle joy riders, there thankfully haven’t been any terrorist threats.”
Keeping up with the rangers is no small task. Following two predecessors, Felipe Torrez and Danell Sangster, two IAH employees, head up the program, bringing rangers to community events and even teaching the program to a major airport just up the interstate.
“Along with our regular jobs, we volunteered to head up the Airport Ranger program,” says Torrez, airport operations coordinator and Sangster, airport operations specialist.
The Airport Rangers jobs don’t just consist of riding around the airport’s perimeters on horseback. It’s far more complicated than that. One of the biggest tasks is physically clearing over 80 miles of trails around the airport from debris and other foreign objects.
They are not alone in this task. |
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© Houston Airport System
Riding For Safety. The Airport Rangers are patrolling the perimeter around Houston's IAH.
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David Williams, airport security manager for Bush Intercontinental Airport, created a partnership with a local criminal justice institution to employ their detainees to help clear the airport’s fence lines and trails – including clearing ditches and debris, and spraying and cutting trees.
Sangster, a former correctional officer, is no stranger to working with detainees.
“We coordinate with the correctional facility throughout the year to help clear the trails,” says Sangster. “They help us out a lot, but during the summer months, the detainees are contracted elsewhere, so Torrez and I volunteer to help IAH Airfield and Grounds get the job done.”
Most Airport Ranger volunteers hear about the program by word of mouth. One horseback rider tells another and so forth. Volunteers are not provided a horse to ride and they are required to go through a very thorough background check before being cleared to ride on the airport property.
After passing an extensive background check, they’re given an airport badge and are allowed to ride the 32 miles of fencing, 25 miles of trails around the airport and the 25 miles of trails that meander through the wooded property.
Upon inspecting the trails, if rangers come across anything out of the ordinary they are asked to call for help.
“We teach the volunteers not to handle situations out in the field. If they see anything suspicious, they’re asked to call airport operations. Anything from a cut fence line to abandoned objects,” says Torrez. “They are also taught not to approach anyone seen on the property, just to call us and tell us where they are, so we can go out and handle the situation.”
And find things they do; from people riding four-wheelers, drunk drivers, abandoned cars and people hunting deer and other wildlife. The volunteers keep the airport operations division quite busy.
All Airport Ranger volunteers are encouraged to ride the trails during daylight hours and asked to always ride with at least one other Airport Ranger.
The program has been so successful that other airports around the state are now looking to create their own Airport Rangers initiative. Sangster and Torrez are working with those airports, by teaching them the ins and outs of IAH’s program and perhaps helping them establish other Airport Ranger programs.
Locally famed, the airport rangers are frequently asked to participate in community activities such as festivals and parades.
If you are interested in becoming an Airport Ranger, please visit Click Here for more information.
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