RAF MILDENHALL, England — Anyone wanting to follow the daily airport shuttle buses from RAFs Mildenhall and Lakenheath are being asked to check in with the bus drivers first.
Friends and family should identify themselves to the bus drivers prior to following them down to Gatwick or Heathrow airports, according to an e-mail sent out July 2 by an official with Lakenheath’s INTRO program, which aids new arrivals.
“(The driver) is trained to ensure he is not followed as he is carrying military personnel and their families and has to be vigilant at all times,” the e-mail states. “Over the last couple of weeks they have had to take action to lose drivers as they had not identified themselves.”
If the driver is tailed by motorists who have not identified themselves, the drivers will call the police, according to the e-mail.
One of the drivers had brought up the issue in light of the recent attempted car bombings in London and Glasgow, Scotland, according to Airman Torri Ingalsbe, a Lakenheath spokeswoman.
Rick Martin, an official with Coach Services, which runs the shuttles, said it was something that had been talked about, but had no official policy .
Unidentified drivers have followed the buses in the past, Martin said, adding that he would not comment on what the drivers’ procedure is for such an occurrence.
Martin said his drivers are not trained to try to lose drivers on the motorway.
“How could a coach lose a car?” he said. “That’s not the way they operate.”
Other security measures at Air Force bases in England have been difficult to ascertain since the failed car bombings here.
Citing Air Force policy, officials at Lakenheath and Mildenhall would not discuss if any additional security has been put in place in response to the attacks.
