Military Base Security
Sep. 17th, 2013 10:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chris_gerribI've heard, of course, of the mass shooting yesterday at the Washington Navy Yard. I've never been on that base, but have seen reports that Building 197, the site of the shooting, is supposedly secure. I've also seen reports that the shooter acquired some of his weapons via the Polish Resistance method - shooting a security person and taking their weapons.
Since initial reports are often wrong, anything we think we know about this shooting should be taken with at least a grain of salt. However, one of the ongoing issues with the US military is base security, or rather lack thereof.
I was briefly stationed at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia. This station has a four-lane expressway leading into the base. Granted, it's one of our biggest facilities, but with tens of thousands of people legitimately driving on the base every day, securing the base as a whole is impossible. Yet, we tend to act as if the base is secure, because there's a guard at the gate.
Here's the thing - perimeter security, either computer or physical, is always vulnerable. Once you're past the gate, either by shooting your way in or getting smuggled in, the attacker has free rein. Sooner or later, our enemies will get smart and figure out the way to fight the American military isn't to stand on a field in Iraq or Afghanistan, but rather to crash a gate in the USA.
Since initial reports are often wrong, anything we think we know about this shooting should be taken with at least a grain of salt. However, one of the ongoing issues with the US military is base security, or rather lack thereof.
I was briefly stationed at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia. This station has a four-lane expressway leading into the base. Granted, it's one of our biggest facilities, but with tens of thousands of people legitimately driving on the base every day, securing the base as a whole is impossible. Yet, we tend to act as if the base is secure, because there's a guard at the gate.
Here's the thing - perimeter security, either computer or physical, is always vulnerable. Once you're past the gate, either by shooting your way in or getting smuggled in, the attacker has free rein. Sooner or later, our enemies will get smart and figure out the way to fight the American military isn't to stand on a field in Iraq or Afghanistan, but rather to crash a gate in the USA.
