I watched the news today about a possible active shooter at the Washington DC Naval Base. The same Naval Base where two years ago an active shooter killed 12 people. Improvements in security have been made over the past two years. They include limiting entrance and exit to only two locations and more detailed inspections upon entrance. Turns out it was a false alarm caused by an over-cautious employee. But the potential for an attack still stands.
Improved security measures will only do so much to prevent a reoccurrence of an active shooter on a military base. Military facilities such as the Washington Naval Base all have walls or fences around them. But one look at our Southern Border will show walls and fences only deter the less motivated. And once a determined shooter gains access, he can cause multiple casualties before a base-wide alarm can be sounded, much less a reaction force activated.
To me, the solution is simple. Military bases are full of military people. One thing military people have in common is they have all received weapons training. They qualify with their assigned weapon each year. I propose arming some Senior NCO’s or Officers in every office, department, building, facility and unit. At the beginning of each day, based on a duty roster, designated individuals would report to the armory. They would draw a sidearm with holster and three loaded magazines. The weapon would be turned in at the end of shift. It may look strange for a personnel NCO dressed in Class B uniform, sitting behind a desk packing a sidearm. But it’s not about looks, it’s about security.
Depending on the size of the building, this could provide a dozen armed personnel for protection per building. On a large base like the Washington Naval Base, which is mainly an administrative base, this would allow immediate protection against an active shooter. In traditional military units, those with assigned troops, Platoon Sergeants and Platoon Leaders would be armed every day. How many shots would the Fort Hood shooter have got off if every NCO in that Mobilization Center was armed? An active shooter would not be able to walk casually through a building shooting unarmed people. He would immediately face return fire from all directions.
Having hundreds of soldiers walking around a military base with loaded weapons would be very un-nerving to many civilians. I’m not talking about arming every Soldier, Marine, Airman or Sailor. I’ve seen many a junior enlisted soldier that I did not feel comfortable handing live ammo to without constant supervision. I’m talking about issuing weapons to Senior NCO’s – Sergeants, soldiers that are experienced and mature; the people we pay to make split-second, life and death decisions in combat zones. And while they are deployed, they carry a loaded weapon, sometime two, every day, 24/7.
Seems simple enough to me.