Officials at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort and Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island have been given the go-ahead to start a civilian police force to handle security on the bases, according to air station spokesman Capt. James Jarvis.

Currently, Marine Corps sentries and military policemen guard the bases' gates and roadways. The switch should free up active-duty Marines for deployment to Iraq, Afghanistan and other overseas duty stations, Jarvis said.

"The goal is to form a law enforcement agency that is well-trained, disciplined, responsive to the Marine Corps community and shares in the reputation of the force it serves and protects," he said.

This is part of a Corps-wide initiative that began in 2005, Jarvis said. Civilian police forces are active at Marine bases in Albany, Ga.; Jacksonville, Fla.; and Barstow, Calif. In June, Corps leadership approved hiring 1,200 policemen nationwide over four years, Jarvis said.

Prior military service will not be a requirement, he said.

"They are looking for the best-qualified candidates, regardless of the source," he said. Details of the hiring process, costs and a timetable for implementation are not available, Jarvis said.

"Since this is a new program in the Lowcountry, a number of implementation measures still need to be worked out," he said. "We're not yet in a position to speak to the specifics of how the hiring process or implementation phases will work here other than to say the program is coming and that we are looking forward to the increased flexibility this will provide to us and to the lessening of personnel requirements this will create, thereby allowing us to better use those assets to support the war fighter forward."

Parris Island spokesman Lt. Josiah Nicelysaid the recruit depot will follow the air station's lead when hiring begins, as they share a Provost Marshal's Office. Nicely also said he does not know when hiring will begin.

Civilian security forces have been in place at the Army's Fort Stewart base in Columbia for seven years, according to Lt. Col. Greg Vibber, base director of emergency services.

Both private security firms and civilian police officers augment the military police on the base, Vibber said. About a third of the base's security is handled by civilians, he said.

The civilian officers are trained at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland and Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, he said. Although the training they receive is nearly identical to the training military police receive, the two groups do not train together, Vibber said.

Having a mixed force is an advantage for any base because its civilian personnel cannot be deployed during wartime, he said.

"The civilian police have integrated very well," he said. "The huge advantage is the stability of the force."

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