We remember pulling guard duty at Fort Sill back during the Cold War, and, proud to say, if it weren't for us and our M-16, the Russians may have taken that empty warehouse. Or maybe it was just our drill sergeant's plan to keep us awake all night. Wouldn't put it past him.
The biggest enemy we encountered that night was a couple of big Oklahoma bugs attracted to the large industrial lights that came on at dusk. But just the sight of a military man and his M-16 would have been enough to keep away any pranksters from nearby Lawton.
As events in the last week prove, crazies like soft targets. The United States military should never be a soft target.
Of course, of course, and of course again Governor Asa Hutchinson was right to tell his National Guard generals to arm full-time soldiers and airmen on duty around the state. Major General Mark Berry was said to have started planning for upgraded security right after the attacks in Chattanooga last week. (The sign of a good officer is when he starts writing operations orders in anticipation of instructions from up the chain.) Specifics of the plan won't be released, the brass says. Which only makes sense. Never make it easy for the crazies.
Guardsmen selected to carry weapons come from a group of about 500 full-time soldiers and airmen who work at the state's recruiting offices and Arkansas' 62 armories. Who's full time and who's not? Who's armed and who's not? It'll be hard to tell. And should be. Again, never make it easy for the crazies.
This will take no act of Congress, either. Military types on duty can already carry weapons if "there is reasonable expectation that [Defense] installations, property or personnel lives or DoD assets will be jeopardized if personnel are not armed." That's according to Department of Defense directive 5210.56. After what happened in Chattanooga last week, consider directive 5210.56 operational, as the brass says.
If a civilian in Arkansas can take a course one weekend and come away with a concealed carry permit, how much better trained are our military types? When it comes to weapons, many of them are experts. With the Expert Marksmanship Badges to prove it.
Arm the professionals. Put sentries out front of our armories. "Clearly they are a target," Governor Hutchinson said. "And for us to have unarmed military personnel makes no sense."
We think he means don't make it easy for the crazies. Amen, governor.
Not to belabor a point we've made time and again in this column, but if the United States military shouldn't be a soft target, neither should . . . schools.
It took a madman shooting up a couple of Chattanooga neighborhoods for governors of several states to take action and issue orders such as the ones Asa Hutchinson has already sent down the chain. How many more school shootings will the American public put up with before every campus--elementary, high school and college--has a police officer on beat, complete with a sunny disposition, a number of years of training, and, yes, a sidearm? And if a district can't afford that, a vice principal or math teacher with the training and equipment to protect our children until help arrives?
Let's make things difficult for the crazies. As often as possible.
Editorial on 07/24/2015