As ARMY we are united in a bond of love and admiration for BTS. These feelings of devoted adoration come with a sense of wanting to protect BTS, a want to make sure they are okay - as it’s a natural thing we all do for the ones we care about.
ARMY Protection Squad saw the need to have some sort of organized structure to help protect our favorite group of boys. They organized and established a project entitled the Purple Ribbon Project (whose account is currently on a permanent hiatus). This project entailed the organization of a group of dedicated ARMYs to stand guard at LAX Airport with a purple ribbon, to ensure the ease of BTS’ movements from the airport to their transportation. On May 15, 2018, their plan was put into action, with approximately twenty ARMY’s helping with the initiative of protecting BTS at the airports.
The intentions of this project did not go unnoticed by BTS, with RM commenting on the Purple Ribbon Project in an interview with Access Hollywood, stating:
"They [ARMY] got those purple ribbons for the security. They put it all the way around us through, inside, and outside the airport to keep the security for us. They did it themselves, so that is really an amazing thing."
Of course, ARMY Protection Squad did not stop with the Purple Ribbon Project. They established a fan-run organization to help spread awareness about airport etiquette. Infographics were spread and promoted using social media, in support of establishing a better atmosphere for BTS when arriving in a new country.
What started off as just wanting to protect BTS during their travels soon grew, like many ARMY-run fanbases, into something much bigger. The fanbase now has over 25 thousand Twitter followers and continues to grow in number even now. They have since started to spread awareness on concert venue safety - laying out rules made by Big Hit or by the venue themselves for the passionate concert-goers.
Soon they were expanding their branches internationally, with volunteer ARMYs banding together in mutual solidarity to form regional departments. These regional departments contained representatives and volunteers who would ensure the safety of BTS during their time in the group’s dedicated area. These groups ranged from whole country groups such as Canada, to cities such as Paris.
The members of the regional departments were all screened by ARMY Protection Squad and given strict rules of which they needed to follow to maintain the safety of BTS as a group at airports.
On August 26, 2018, ARMY Protection Squad introduced a new division to their fanbase known as the Crisis Management Division: ARMY. This division allowed for prompt addressing of urgent or pressing issues faced by BTS and/or ARMY - something that has become critical in protecting BTS’ reputation from anti-fans, sasaeng behavior, and defamation from the media. The Crisis Management Division has become the epicenter for information on how to behave in certain situations relating to BTS, and how to report inappropriate behavior with the information being provided in a multitude of languages.
To say the ARMY Protection Squad is important would be an understatement. ARMY Protection Squad helps spread messages about airport safety, concert safety for both BTS and ARMY, and makes sure to keep ARMY updated on any other safety-related issues that are brought up by Big Hit. They have spread awareness about behaviors that are unwelcome in the ARMY and BTS environment, and have put in place suggestions on how we can protect BTS from such behaviors. Lastly, the fanbase encourages ARMY to be BTS’ emotional support for when they are having times of difficulty, just as BTS have become our support during our own personal times of trial.
This month’s Fanbase Spotlight is dedicated to the lovely ARMY Protection Squad. Thank you for your hard work protecting our boys and our ARMY family.
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Written by: Caitlin Edited by: Ash
Checked by: Mheer