More issues at MacDill Air Force Base.
This is stale by a month but it needs to be looked at. It seems that there was a second attempt at getting into the base. Only this time the person got in. Like the previous time, the person was armed.
The brazen scheme was discovered last year by military investigators only after Scott Allan Bennett, 39, was arrested for drunk driving at an entrance gate to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.
At the time of his bust, a “dazed and confused” Bennett was carrying a concealed, loaded handgun, and his vehicle contained a second loaded gun, seven knives, a machete, a collapsible baton, mace, a stun gun, ammunition, a sling shot with BBs, and a box of throwing stars,
It gets better.
After being booked in late-April on a DUI count, Bennett returned to MacDill, where he was met at the gate by an Air Force Police investigator, who sought to question him about the weapons found in his vehicle (MacDill residents are required to register firearms and ammo with the Base Armory). Bennett invoked his right to remain silent and denied permission to search his apartment.
However, after a military magistrate signed a search warrant, Bennett’s home was raided. Investigators reported finding “seven loaded firearms; approximately 9389 additional rounds of ammunition; numerous knives; brass knuckles; an electric stun gun; and a collapsible baton, in addition to other weapons and prohibited materials.” None of the material had been registered with the MacDill armory.
Besides the fact that the pretended to be a vet to get on post, one has to ask how long before someone get through with a weapon? Also what is there to prevent a violent episode there? Will it be another one of those ” No one could have predicted this” or “It just goes to show how much these wars are affecting our Veterans” crap.
Category: Military issues, Phony soldiers, Shitbags
Motivation usually boils down to love, lust, or lucre. By the report, the fourth motivation (i.e. batshit crazy) wasn’t a factor as he knew to invoke the 5th and deny access to his quarters. However – he did manage to score quarters on base.
One thumb up: becuz housing bureaucratz followz orderz without questionz.
One thumb down: since no one really knows his motivation.
But I love this one.
In early-February, when an employee of the Base Housing Office wrote Bennett seeking a copy of his orders, he responded that those orders were top secret with CENTCOM, “so I need approval first for what I can leave on file and disclose. I will try and get them to you ASAP.” Housing office employees, though, never bothered to follow up on their initial request seeking Bennett’s orders.
Bennett’s residence at MacDill lasted barely three months before the impostor–driving a 2005 BMW–showed up intoxicated at the base’s Dale Mabry gate. (6 pages)
How exactly (or maybe even approximately) does some one have “APPROXIMATELY 9389 additional rounds of ammunition” or any other thing? Should we believe that he may have had 9389 and one half rounds, but the authorities didn’t want to be to precise in their comments?
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But in all the hoopty-hoop regarding weapons, ammunition and all that, they seem to miss the point that HE GOT QUARTERS ON BASE as an impostor. Some heads need to roll over this one, starting with the gubbmint employees who got his quarters for him.
And also: How many more are there out there, already living on a base?
What is all this CRAP about any and all levels of Gubbment, from cities and local schools, to the Fed, thinking that just because they dictate that This Area Is Now A Gun-Free Zone, that everyone will live happily ever after on skittles, rainbows and unicorn farts?? That the baddies don’t already realize that this is a target-rich environment? The military bases treat the soldiers as if they were New York City prisoners, with now rights, especially the right of self defense.
We’ve seen it at every level from Columbine, to Virginia Tech, to Ft Hood.
WAKE UP, you upper level sad sacks! If a soldier would be allowed to carry off-base, then let him carry on-base as well. That would give these baddies pause for thought, and maybe, just maybe, prevent another Maj Hassan.
AW1 Tim has the best question. None of the press releases mention him being military or a spouse of a military person. How does he rate base housing?
Soldiers are evil little children who can’t be trusted even with a slingshot on-post… but, oh, an imposter can get base housing and that’s not news.
I was unaware that any base had a policy requiring the registration of ammunition, that seems pretty off to me. After all, do you have to update them every time you go hunting, to the range, or do reloading?
As for 9K in ammo, that’s not such a high number; I have easily that in combined .22 (I buy in 5-10k Bricks), .38, .380, .30 carbine, .40, .45 (ACP and long), (I buy in 250-500 round boxes) 12-Ga (100-250 round boxes) and and 5.56 and 7.62×39 (per 1000 rounds.) (Not to mention 30-06, which I purchase in bulk through CMP, and .270, which I keep a stock of 100-200 rounds handy for when the deer attack. It isn’t surprising for me to open up the vault and see somewhere in the neighborhood of 20K rounds staring at me, and realize I a) need to go to the range, and b)need to get more ammo. And that’s just the target practice stuff.
The stuff reseverd for burglars, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Westboro Baptist Church revivals is in smaller quantitiy, but still likely to top 2K rounds.
As for getting base housing, it surprisingly isn’t that hard, assuming that the housing on MacDill is privatized. Gin up a set of assignment orders (Not that hard) and get put on the wait list, and when move in time comes, dutifully fill out the paperwork to have your BAH deducted from your pay. When payday comes, they call because they didn’t receive your pay, and you claim “pay issues” and drop off a check. Make arrangements for this to continue until the issue gets fixed. Since the privatized housing company doesn’t check beyond that to see if anything’s hinkey, (since they are getting their money) you now have gummint housing.
Seems rather illogical that after the military trains soldiers on the proper use of firearms they turn around and prohibit them from carrying on base. What are they supposed to do if the base comes under attack? Maybe they could call a time-out and go ask for permission to check out a weapon. And what’s the use of having a stockpile of guns without a healthy amount of ammo?
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