The Myers Clan’s California branch lived in the Omaha suburb of Bellevue, Neb., home of Strategic Air Command at Offutt Air Force Base from 1987 to 1994. Even though I was a civilian, I belonged to local civic groups that would make frequent trips inside the base, including three trips to the “underground” made famous in “Dr. Strangelove.”

During these trips, I first learned the concept of “force protection.” On any military base, most members of the armed forces perform functions from logistics to maintenance where carrying a weapon would interfere with efficiency. This requires specialists to provide security.

At Offutt, they relied on the elite SAC guards, fit young men and women with serious expressions, normally clothed in sky-blue tunics with blue berets, wearing shiny silver pearl-handled revolvers on their hips.

This changed when Iraq, then under Saddam Hussein, invaded Kuwait in 1991. The U.S. Air Force, with the other armed forces, mobilized quickly to defend the oil fields of Saudi Arabia from the mad dictator.

Realizing the heightened risk to servicemen and women at the base from potential terror attacks, the elite guards traded their colorful uniforms and berets for combat fatigues with Kevlar helmets. They exchanged the shiny revolvers for assault rifles, but kept the same earnest and serious expressions while patrolling the fences and the gates of the base.

Bottom line: Whenever I entered the base, I knew that if any threats attempted to breach the gate or the fences these young men and women would utilize these weapons and training and even lay down their lives for the protection of the unarmed men and women inside.

Dante and Carolyn Acosta of Santa Clarita, unfortunately, now know that 20 years on that same blanket of security does not envelope U.S. forces overseas.

In March of this year, their son Rudy Acosta died when an Afghan “force protection” guard employed by a Canadian defense contractor turned his weapon on U.S. soldiers at an Afghan base, killing two, including Rudy Acosta, and wounding four.

Lately, it came to light in the local media that Dante Acosta took it upon himself to ask the hard questions of the U.S. military regarding this incident, and the policies and practices that led to the death of his son. This quest led him to write letters to military leaders and contact our local Congressman Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, eventually receiving an invitation to a congressional hearing on general updates in Afghanistan.

Dante Acosta does not yet possess satisfactory answers to his questions. When a citizen asks people in authority a question they do not want to answer, they either ignore the question or answer another question. Eventually, they will draft an answer that utilizes mealy mouthed language to not answer the question directly.

Sources tell me that Acosta now spends time attending local Republican events, where he can confront McKeon staffers to demand direct answers.

I hate to adopt bluntness, but I know the answer, and Acosta does, too. The far-flung wars now waged by America and other armed forces cede many jobs to private contractors, including the important tasks of force protection and general security, in order to save money.

Let me adopt bluntness again. These forces are “mercenaries,” and they come cheaper because the U.S. military does not concern themselves with their transportation, maintenance or training in the faraway land.

The reports surrounding the Afghan who shot and killed Rudy Acosta provide an object lesson. A Canadian merc firm fulfilling a contract to provide force security hired the Afghan a mere 10 days before the shooting in a district allegedly known for a high degree of Taliban infiltration and sympathy.

This poorly vetted and untrained person then received an assault rifle and access to U.S. forces, which he exploited to deadly effect. The effort to save money resulted in these deaths; nothing more, nothing less.

So, on this most important holiday, the Acostas will find themselves deprived of their son, pained by the fact of not only the loss but the distinct appearance that one can trace his death directly to a hard dollars and cents decision of the U.S. military and their congressional overseers to turn their backs on that robust force protection that I saw personally some 20 years ago — going form world class to “good enough.”

And I truly believe that Dante Acosta would find comfort if Congressman McKeon would admit a poor collective decision in the case of force protection.

Tim Myers is a Valencia resident. “Myers’ Musings” runs Sunday.