MIDDLETOWN — Joe Ruchti had just taken the first step toward becoming a Cincinnati police officer when he got the call that will put him on a different force — as a National Guardsman on airport security detail.

        It will be two steps back for his dream of becoming a city officer, but the 23-year-old police cadet is not complaining.

        “We're going to be doing something that needs to be done,” said Sgt. Ruchti, standing in front of the Ohio National Guard armory on Middletown's south side, where his 324th Military Police Company has its headquarters.

        “People want the security; they need it and I'm more than willing to put my plans aside for a while to get the job done,” said Sgt. Ruchti, an Athens, Ohio, native.

        Sgt. Ruchti is one of about 100 Ohio National Guardsmen from military police in Middletown and Youngstown who will be assigned to security work at airports around the state.

        Another 35 Kentucky National Guard members have been assigned to do the same job at airports in Kentucky, including Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.

        President Bush asked all 50 governors last week to call up Guard members to supplement security at airports in the wake of the hijacking and terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.

        The Guard members in Kentucky and Ohio began two days of classroom training by the Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday.

        The Kentucky guardsmen will wear camouflage uniforms; the Ohio guardsmen will not.

        They will be clad in what they call their “Class B's” — a civilian-style uniform of short-sleeve dress shirts, dress slacks and polished shoes.

        Guardsmen from both states will carry 9 mm pistols with live ammunition.

        The guardsmen will do on-the-job training Friday at the airports.

        After that, the armed guardsmen will be on their own for what promises to be a four- to six-month assignment of assisting airport personnel in screening passengers.

        At the Middletown Armory on Wednesday, Sgt. Ruchti and the other guardsmen were still waiting for special assignments.

        “Somebody has a plan, but we don't know what it is yet,” one guardsman said.

        Most of the guardsmen who talked to reporters at the Middletown Armory on Wednesday said they are expecting to be away from their jobs and families until some time next year.

        For Sgt. Ruchti, it means putting off his plan to become a Cincinnati police officer.

        He had started a 23-week training course at the Cincinnati Police Academy about 10 days ago and had to leave once his National Guard unit was activated, as did two other Cincinnati police recruits who are members of the 324th Military Police Company.

        Even if the airport assignment lasts only a few weeks, he can't go back to this recruit class; he will have to wait for the next one.

        In the meantime, he will be paid as a police cadet and get his benefits.

        “The city is great about it,” Sgt. Ruchti said.

        “I'm guaranteed a spot in the next class.

        “I was really looking forward to the academy and getting the badge, but this is something I'm committed to.”

        He is an experienced military policeman.

        Last year, he finished a five-year stint in the Army, where he was posted at Fort Benning in Georgia, at Fort Campbell in Kentucky and in Germany as an MP.

        Maj. John Ward, an officer with an engineering battalion with headquarters in Cincinnati and a former commander of the MP company, said most of the members have some kind of law enforcement background, either civilian or mili- tary.

        “We've got cops, EMTs, firefighters from all over the state,” said Maj. Ward.

        He was at Middletown assisting the 324th mobilization.

        Sgt. Phil Wert, a guardsman in the 324th from Springfield, Ohio, said the group at Middletown is “itching to go.”

        “Everybody here wants to be part of this,” Sgt. Wert said.

        “I can't think of anything else we could do that would be more important.”
       

Comforting the nation
Mrs. Bush holds Tristate meeting with educators
Luken accused of police politics
Morgue arguments center on permission
86 listed as child support offenders
Adamowski highlights progress in Cincinnati
Justice complaints in 2 cities compared
Ohio guardsmen 'itching to go'
Opinions on police gathered
Travelers waited at bus depot, said service halt necessary
Tristate A.M. Report
HOWARD: Some Good News
PULFER: Doug Cherry
Call-ups crimp schools, businesses
Following in his paw prints
Three-day festival adopts Greek theme
Foreign-born in Cincinnati up 30% in 7 years
State might pay extra tab
Tax break for business pondered
Ceremony to mark bridge closing
Digital licenses being phased in
First businesses open at Levee
GOP uses ex-Democrat to entice converts
Kentucky News Briefs
Sex firms on agenda
Sparta appeals on annexation