The NCUA will establish a new office focused solely on agencysecurity and continuity, Public Affairs Specialist John Fairbankstold Credit Union Times.

“We anticipate naming a director of the office in the nearfuture,” he said.

The announcement was in response to questions about examiner safety, prompted after court documents revealed NCUAemployees discovered 10,000 rounds of ammunition and semi-automaticweapons in a storage room when they seized the $23.6 million TaupaLithuanian Credit Union in Cleveland earlier this year.

NCUA employees also discovered a go bag in the office of formerCEO Alex Spirikaitis, which was packed with blank identificationcards, clean underwear, a razor, a map of a Los Angeles address anda variety of prepaid mobile phone cards, Marriott hotels cardsand stored value cards, prosecutors said.

(Read more about the arsenal discovered at Taupa LithuanianCU)

Colleen M. Kelley, president of the National Treasury EmployeesUnion, told Credit Union Times in a statement that thesituation in Cleveland was unusual, but NCUA employees have ongoingconcerns about personal safety.

The NTEU represents approximately 950 of NCUA's nearly 1,200employees, and about 150,000 bargaining unit employees in 30federal agencies and departments.

Kelley also said the NTEU will work with the NCUA to exploreways to enhance and improve the safety and security ofemployees.

Fairbanks confirmed that statement, saying the NCUA is presentlyworking in partnership with the union to identify and addressadditional on-the-job safety concerns.

The NCUA continually reviews policies and procedures forenhancing the security of employees working in the field and inoffice environments, Fairbanks said. Police officers don'tregularly accompany NCUA employees to credit unions when theregulator places them into conservatorship. However, Fairbanks saidwhen necessary, the regulator will work with law enforcement andsecurity specialists to protect NCUA employees.

A former NCUA examiner, who agreed to speak anonymously, saidthe NCUA does a good job sheltering inexperienced examiner staffersfrom volatile situations. If there is a perceived threat, lawenforcement coordination is used to assist in servingconservatorship orders, the former field employee said.

“There truly is another side to the industry that most peoplenever see or hear about,” the person said.

The NCUA was not able to immediately provide additional detailsregarding the new office, such as how the office would be fundedand if it would impact the 2014 operating budget.