Before patrolling the streets of Auburn, Shaun Feero was probing the perimeter of an airbase half a world away.

The young officer was first a soldier – wearing a different set of boots, carrying a specialized weapon but committed to a similar cause, wherever the mission might take him.

In PD blue or military camouflage, Feero is trained to detect, defend and defuse.

He has seen the likes of Saudi Arabia, Belgium and lately, Iraq. His journeys have spanned several states.

Just where his next assignment will be is unknown.

“I’m going to go where they need me to go,” said the 29-year-old Feero, a patrol officer for the Auburn Police Department and a staff sergeant for the 446th Security Forces Squadron at nearby McChord Air Force Base.

“I volunteered for this deployment,” Feero said. “I feel it is not only my duty, but I would like to be a part of something that makes a difference in our country’s future.”

Feero, who joined the Auburn police force in 2007, is one of more than 2,400 citizen airmen in the Air Force Reserve’s 446th Airlift Wing serving the nation.

Despite the hazardous nature of the job, security force reservists make the choice to be mobilized. And Feero is ready for any call. The money is good, the experience invaluable and the mission vital.

Many police officers are military trained, a good proving ground.

Feero, who had been on active duty for six years, re-enlisted for another six years with the security force.

“If we shift our focus on Afghanistan, then it definitely will affect me,” Feero said of possible future deployments. “I don’t know where it will be, but I will go back.”

Feero recently returned from his first tour of duty in northern Iraq – a six-month deployment in which he helped defend the Kirkuk Regional Air Base. The squadron, which included Feero and two other airmen from McChord, was attached to the 506th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron at the airbase in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Feero’s duties included radio/telephone operations, tower watch and ground patrols. He regularly roamed the airbase inside a specialized Humvee – a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected armored vehicle – as a patrol leader.

“Our mission was to defend the base,” Feero said. “Without base defense operations, terrorist organizations would have a stronghold in the area of Kirkuk and northern Iraq because flying operations and Army convoys would not be able to function.”

The security force’s worst fear – indirect fire – was realized one day last September. A terrorists’ attack killed two local nationalist contracted workers on base. Feero, a radio telephone operator that day, dispatched help and set up a crime scene.

Despite intense moments, Feero and his troops maintained order.

“Obviously, it’s scary because you never know if that mortar or rocket will hit you or a target,” Feero said. “It’s a fear, but we were trained to respond.

“I learned that I’m able to respond to very stressful environments … I am still able to focus,” Feero said.

Feero said security forces are needed, and will continue to be needed in a hostile part of the world.

“I wasn’t there in the beginning,” he said of the conflict in Iraq. “I know there’s still some attacks. I don’t think you will ever change things. … When you have one U.S. troop over there, it’s a major issue.”

For Feero, the experience overseas has brought perspective and an understanding of how other cultures live, even in the throes of war.

Since he was a kid growing up in Alaska, Feero has been drawn to action.

His family had some military lore. One grandfather was shot but survived the beach invasion of Anzio, Italy during World War II, the other was a Marine who fought in Korea. A cousin was a helicopter pilot killed in the Vietnam War.

Feero, a Kent-Meridian High School graduate, has used the military to help bridge and establish a career in police work. He enjoys his job in a city he belongs to and shares with his girlfriend.

“I love my work,” said Feero, who recently was honored for his military duty by the City of Auburn. “Every day is a different day. You don’t know what to expect.

“I like the camaraderie,” he added. “Some of the best people I’ve met are police officers. … And the city has been very supportive of me.”

Feero hopes the country will continue to support the effort abroad.

For Feero, the struggle is real, the sacrifice great, which was evident by a lasting image he brought home.

Aboard a returning C-130 cargo plane, Feero was accompanied by caskets of fallen U.S. soldiers.

For this Auburn police officer, it was a striking reminder that the call to duty must go on.