Increased security at Arlington
The Associated Press reports that the US has strengthened security at the Arlington National Cemetery in the aftermath of the jihadist attack on a military guard in Ottawa.
Authorities increased security at the Tomb of the Unknowns, which draws 4 million tourists a year. The Military District of Washington, which oversees the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, known as The Old Guard, that protects the tomb, said the added security was a “precautionary measure.”
The U.S. Embassy in Ottawa was also placed on lockdown as a precaution.
It was unclear whether Wednesday’s shootings were terrorism-related.
Yeah, it’s clear to everyone except the Associated Press apparently, since the Canadian Prime Minister has called it a terrorist attack;
[Stephen] Harper called it the country’s second terrorist attack in three days. A man Harper described as an “ISIL-inspired terrorist” on Monday ran over two soldiers in a parking lot in Quebec, killing one and injuring another before being shot to death by police.
I don’t think that there is a risk to soldiers guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers since it’s quite a hike from the gate to the Tomb and there are already several layers of security a potential assassin would need to navigate. It would be easier to attack the White House, which by the way, had another fence-jumper yesterday while the drama in Ottawa unfolded.
Our Canadian buddy, Aunty Brat has more information on Corporal Nathan Cirillo, the reservist who was killed in Ottawa yesterday.
Category: Military issues
I can neither confirm nor deny that when I was in The Old Guard in the 1980s, people routinely went into ANC during the night time. Most of them were actually in TOG, taking their girlfriends in, but hey. Maybe security is better now.
The AP is unsure whether this was terrorism related? Perhaps they think it might be Mennonite jihad? That, of course, would have to be stopped before they started crashing their buggies into sky scrapers. AP is sliding toward MSNBC.
AP hadn’t gotten their orders from pResident Obola yet, they couldn’t get in front of his storyline,
faboutlaws…What you said brother!
no way to tell if an M1 or ’03 is loaded from a distance….
On an unrelated note, it took the Canadians 5 years less to identify an act of Islamist terrorism than it has the US government about Nidal Hassan.
The Current Rifle for the Tomb Guard is the M14,
Thet have carried !903s and M1 Garands in the past.
The side are at the present time is the M9 it replaced the 1911
The stocks for the m14s are handmade by TOG the M14s are fully functional however they are not loaded while being carried by the Guard.
Thank you, been a few years since I was there. Used to have a friend who was in TOG (he appeared briefly in “Gardens of Stone” like many) but that was almost 35
years ago.
“they are not loaded while being carried by the Guard.”
Why, in Heaven’s name not?
OC
Because they might, you know, point a loaded weapon at a potential threat. God forbid, some liberal may have a heart attack and the ACLU would file suit.
Hell, they might as well carry an umbrella.
At least the bayonets are loaded.
At least the M14 is heavy enough to make a fairly decent club, if necessary.
The more I see of these things, the more I realize just how unprepared the authorities really are to handle these things.
Really.
All I would have to do to disrupt Washington would be to drop an M 80 into a toilet in the Smithsonian, and all fucking hell would break loose. They’d be tripping all over themselves with SWAT teams from 20 different agencies setting up on as many different buildings, and SERT teams, and bomb disposal people, and hostage negotiators, but NO ANTI-TERRORIST TROOPS (we don’t want the public to panic), and the “president” would be playing golf, but stopping long enough to call it a case of work place violence, and blaming it on a you tube video.
Shit you not, if I were given the honor of Guarding the TOTUS I’d make dam sure that I had enough ammo in my pockets. This old bullshit of walking guard with a empty firearm is bullshit, and as far as the distance from the front gate to the tomb is another oversight if anyone thinks for one minute that a person can’t make it to the tomb without being caught, remember how easy it was to get to Bin-Loudon, well this should tell you something, I still say, LOCK AND LOAD.
Sam
Having carried a M-14 in Vietnam I can tell you that doing the Manual of Arms with a 20 round magazine locked in place would get to be a pain in the ass pretty damn quick. Still my favorite rifle after all these years. Still have a semi automatic model that my son now keeps for me.
Meant to add, A couple of shooters over looking the AO would work for me!
PS…Thanks for this blog. Very good work!