MCRD/ERR PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. -- Driving past the Random Vehicle Inspection point, a person may wonder what goes on up there? All speculation ceases the day that they pay the Marines of the RVI point a visit.
As the name suggests, vehicles are selected at random and checked to ensure that the operator has proper licenses and insurance. They also look for weapons and seek out any unlawful contraband such as illegal drugs that may find its way aboard the Depot.
The site was established shortly after the incidents of September 11, 2001, and was retained after threat conditions were lowered to help police the number of visitors that come to the Depot every week.
"The purpose of the Random Vehicle Inspection point is to prevent contraband [such as] weapons, drugs, drug paraphernalia or any weapons of mass destruction, from getting aboard the Depot," said 1st Lt. William Butters, District officer in charge of the Military Police District, MCRD Parris Island. "It also serves a dual purpose. It is another way to ensure that drivers that are coming through there are properly licensed and insured and their vehicles are registered."
As an aid for preventing crime from taking place aboard the Depot, the site has been a success.
"Being that the Depot is still at Force Protection Condition Bravo, the RVI site is an important tool to prevent weapons, weapons of mass destruction and other contraband from getting onto the Depot," said Butters. "The recent increase in the amount of paraphernalia that has been found up there is a direct result of the dedication and professionalism that the Marines are exercising up there."
However, clarifying just how successful it has been cannot easily be summed up.
"First off we haven't had any terrorist attacks here, but we have been catching a lot of paraphernalia and drugs coming through there," said Butters. "We have caught a couple of people who have warrants out for their arrest out in town and occasionally we do find weapons that aren't secured properly in vehicles or are illegal all together."
There have been a number of discoveries at the RVI site that indicate that it has been an overwhelming success, said Major Neal F. Pugliese, Depot and 6th Marine Corps District anti-terrorism force protection officer.
The site has been a victory even though there is no quantifiable way to measure how effective it is, other than saying that those Marines are finding contraband pretty regularly now, said Butters. That evidence lets the Provost Marshals Office know that they are conducting thorough inspections.
"[There has been] 16 incidents of found narcotics or found narcotics paraphernalia just in the month of October of this year," he said. "Where in the same month last year, we only had one and in the same period the year before that we had none."
Since there is concurrent jurisdiction with Port Royal Police Department and the Provost Marshals Office that runs to Horse Island, if there are any found drugs or contraband on civilians, PMO requests support from the Port Royal Police Department. If the find involves a service member, then the responsibility lies with PMO.
While the RVI site has changed over the last three years becoming more thorough, Butters thinks that is only part of the reason for its current success. He sees the accomplishments lying squarely on the shoulders of the Marines up there working and searching the vehicles.
"I attribute a lot of the success to the [noncommissioned officers] who are running the show up there," said Butters. "It is a tedious job and they work long hours. These Marines come from all different backgrounds and [Military Occupational Specialties,] then they go up there and they do a great job doing something that most of them have probably never had any experience doing."
Marines like Cpl. Jason Baker, whose primary job on the Depot is as a Chosin Range coach, and is now a PMO augment stationed at the RVI point.
What is done at the site helps control the amounts of illegal drugs that come onto the Depot, said Baker.
"I know the Marines don't need it and their families don't need it," he said. "This is supposed be an area to train Marines, not an area to expose would be Marines to illegal activities like that."
Working directly with recruits for his primary job on the Depot and being a family man himself, Baker has a personal perspective that keeps the motivation toward curbing that kind of activity high.
"My primary job is to train would be Marines, but when I am over here doing this, the second part of my job is to keep those would be Marines away from the drugs and all of the bad stuff that people try to bring onto the Depot," he said.
A lot of these recruits join the Marine Corps to become a part of something positive and then we have people bringing contraband onto the Depot, said Baker.
"It is real everyday, this is not training," said Pugliese. "It is a good opportunity to get those Marines involved so they will have a good understanding of how to conduct these searches at other duty stations around the Marine Corps. So it not only helps Parris Island but it helps the Marine Corps as a whole."