Couple enjoys making the world a better place

Photo by Marny Malin
Erin and Giorgio Boscolo moved to Virginia to begin a life of civil service.

A mere 1 percent of U.S. citizens are currently serving in the Department of Defense, according to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs.

According to their latest numbers, last updated in June, 3,098,411 people are serving in DoD and 662,155 are civilians, said Lt. Col. Les Melnyk, defense press officer.

Two of those civilians are Giorgio and Erin Boscolo, a married couple who recently moved to Virginia from Las Vegas to begin a life of civil service.

What makes their situation all the more rare is that they both work in force protection fields on Fort Belvoir.

Erin, whose official job title is Contingency and Force Protection specialist, works for the garrison's Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security. Giorgio is the chief of the Antiterrorism Branch, Force Protection Program Manager, Security and Counterintelligence Directorate for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

Giorgio fills his work days with meetings and discussions with other agencies in relation to antiterrorism measures, while Erin meets regularly with local police agencies and maintains communication with them to be prepared with antiterrorism procedures.
The Boscolos, who have been married for eight years, have never been jaded by their occupations.

"It's in your blood ... you just know this is what you're supposed to be doing," said Erin, who previously worked as an officer in Las Vegas Metro Police Department. "It's just what I have to do."

Her interest lies in finding and mitigating threats. She looks at and studies past terrorist situations and uses what she's learned to try to make the installation more secure.
"I'm glad we're able to find ways to make the world safer," she said.

Erin and Giorgio met while they were both stationed at Nellis Air Force Base, where they were both serving in the Air Force.

Giorgio taught antiterrorism classes during the nine years he served in the Air Force, which made for an easy transition to DTRA.

"This continues what I loved doing in the military," said Giorgio. "It gives me the opportunity to serve in a different way. You still have to raise your hand and give the oath ... here's another way to serve and I feel obligated."

The couple commutes together from their home in Alexandria every day, and, despite working long hours and on weekends, the couple doesn't complain.

"I love my job," said Giorgio.

He finds excitement in the assessment of the threat and correctly following processes and procedures to mitigate them.

"I think it's just a passion," Giorgio said.