Security at Hood may not have stopped Abdo
As our latest non-right wing terrorist, Jason Naser Abdo, goes to court, the San Antonio Express questions whether Fort Hood’s security would have been enough to prevent another Nidal Hassan-style assault on the central Texas military base;
Fort Hood has armed contract guards at its gates and conducts random searches of cars, but the procedures might not have been enough to foil an attack. Guards at the gates that day checked every military ID but did not run the data through a database that would have alerted them to Abdo’s status as an AWOL soldier.
“I cannot say specifically how or what security personnel scan for at (gates), nor can I say how often and thorough these scans are, as the Army does not discuss security procedures,” Army spokesman Wayne Hall said.
Well, of course it wouldn’t have stopped him. Security in this country is designed to provide employment for otherwise unemployable people and to harass the rest of us who are trying to get to work. Just because guards have more technology to prevent crime than they’ve ever had in history doesn’t mean they’re going to employ it properly. The rest of us are expect to produce something, but security guards aren’t held to same level of performance.
Military gate guards worldwide have a scanner they can use to check a central data base to see if you’re authorized to enter a military facility, but if that database isn’t kept up-to-date, what good is the scanner. I doubt it would have reflected that Abdo was AWOL because it had only been a month since he absconded and you know some portly wienie had a stack of updates in his inbox that he hadn’t input in just a month.
And we’re supposed to understand that level of incompetence because the work is so mundane and repetitive, so what if lives depend on those guys accomplishing a few simple tasks. Just so long as they give us the impression that their level of security is impenetrable. it’s all about perception right?
Perception may have worked in Abdo’s case;
A federal affidavit stated that Abdo “intended to conduct an attack against Killeen and Fort Hood.” But sources in Washington say he told police he was wary of entering Fort Hood because he was unfamiliar with the post.
But how much longer can we depend on perception to protect us?
Category: Terror War
What ever happened to BIDS?
Not to mention the many ways a soldier could get on post without going through the gates. The only time I was looked over was when I went through the airfield gates. Getting on post was easy. Spouses get on post all of the time with the “I forgot my ID” excuse.
Having served there I can tell you security on Ft Hood is a joke. The fact that there are actual gangs on base, the ungodly amount of drugs on post, and the fact that the post is so freaking big that you literally CAN’T fence it off… Makes a security nightmare. Throw in the fact that Darnall serves as a regional level III trauma center, and you have no clue WHO these civilians are… Well it’s actually a wonder Hood hasn’t made the news more often. If you can check the blotter sometime. It’s unreal
Reading the daily blotter is more fun than reading the Darwin Awards on most days.
Right now the mentality is:
– Set up fence
– Put people on fence
– Fire commanders when people on fence fail
Time to rethink security:
– The information exists on who belongs/supports/financially supports organizations that enable deserters/AWOL. These organizations exhibit behavior patterns and become predictable. Use to patterns to pick the deserter/AWOL from a safehouse.
– Does a deserter/AWOL continue to have a right to privacy? His/her FB, bank account(s), insurance, phone/internet use is already available to the government for use in law and order processes – use the same data pick him/her up.
BLUF: aggressively search and pursue and catch prior to an incident, not eulogize the process after.
Using the system on 100% of all occupants 24/7 is ideal–but there is no installation commander in CONUS that will support the lines of traffic that would create and the hassle to the general public. The answer would require redoing all gate infrastructure to include about eleventy-billion lanes and merges. That would be fine except each project would require a MILCON and the associated congressional circle jerk even IF there was money for it.
The same people that bitch about the lines at the gate are the same ones that scream the loudest about the guards being incompetent/stupid/lazy (you pick the superlative).
I do know the computer sys gets updated pretty damn quick though. The system has worked at places like MacDill, McGuire/Ft. Dix, etc.
I’ve never been to the Hood but have been doing the job elsewhere for many yrs. I can’t speak for their contractors–always worked w/military and civil servant types.
As for the investigation/chasing of AWOL–I think we need the MPs that always ALMOST caught the A-team. They seemed to have pretty good intel…if only their jeeps kept all 4 wheels on the ground…
I seriously doubt there’s an AWOL apprehension detail at any base anymore. I do know there is a shit load of DOA police that have taken over the MP’s duties for the most part, civilian’s working MPI and CID slots on bases and even running CID Crime lab which they’ve managed to turn into a classic goat rope.
I’ve worked with and around MPs for a good amnt. The Big Govt plan is to essentially eliminate the MP mos. The lines at the gates … well if you ain’t military or dependant don’t come on post. I remember a time when the U.S. military was self reliant, now it’s all about privatizing(health care, on post gaurds, lawn care, housing, cooks, etc, etc). Think we need to step back and make the miliary to some form of what it used to be …. RESPECTABLE. We’ve lowered the standards so much that lard ass, wife beating, child porn watching, ex-con can get into the military no problem. What happened to background checks, and standards?
Street, my last year at the PD, I found an AWOL soldier during a traffic stop. He tried the “I’m enroute to my next duty station, with leave enroute”, after using his military ID for a license. He crapped himself when I asked for his orders, and then NCIS said he was AWOL. The MPs from Selfridge ANGB made the trip in just about 3 hours to pick him up.
And, they were happy to come get him, I do believe they were on the way before I got him to jail.
I don’t know who the rocket scientist was who thought civie guards at the gates was cheaper. When did a civilian EVER get paid less than a soldier, for doing the same job?
not cheaper, and MPs being dicks naturally, are usually better at spotting funny stuff and making a hassle for a poor private after his first night of drinking. AWOL Soldiers had a HARD time getting on post way back when.
@ #8 – They must have been bored. We usually only went for them after civies had ’em in lockup and other teams turned ’em down or if there was a behind the scenes bet with the rookie accountants from fools, bunglers & incompetents 😉
I say we round up all the fruit cakes around fort hood. Put their heads on pikes. That will keep all the towel heads out. Terrorists hate homos more than us!
@Old Soldier
It’s not about $ per se. It’s about end-strength authorizations. If you pay for civilian jobs out of hide from your O & M budget there’s no need for congress to authorize addt’l bodies or reservist call-ups to cover-down when people are in the desert. Similar justification for RIFs during wartime—shift authorization from one service to another.