Another Senseless Attack On Our Military At Home

Members of the United States Navy, relatives of those killed, and indeed many of us across the nation, are still reeling from the second multiple-killing perpetrated at a US Military facility in less than five years.  On Monday, an otherwise “ordinary” person walked into the Washington Navy Yard, was cleared through Security, and then walked into a restroom.  When he emerged from the restroom he immediately opened fire with a shotgun.  One of the first victims was a security guard, from whom Aaron Alexis obtained another weapon, a pistol.

When Aaron Alexis was finally killed by police about thirty minutes later, twelve people were dead and several others were injured.  With each passing day since this horrific killing, new information is unearthed indicating that Mr. Alexis should not have had a gun, should not have been allowed on government property, should not have had a military secret clearance, and should not have been awarded government contracts.  Just lately we learned that US Investigation Service (USIS), a private corporation that also does “contract” for the government, had completed a background check on Mr. Alexis (whose name I will never mention again in my blog).  USIS found no reason to deny a security clearance to the killer in 2007, even though the killer had committed a serious crime with a firearm in 2004.

There were several factors and circumstances that culminated in this criminal attack.  The killer was obviously an unstable person who slipped through the “cracks” in Seattle.  He also had a run-in with the law in Fort Worth (at least one).  He was involved in an argument that nearly turned physical while in an airport terminal in Virginia.  Since the argument was with a family member, no one notified the police.  The killer also had several contacts with various police departments in which he told officers that he heard voices, knew that people were following him, and believed that one or more of the people following him were “sending vibrations” into him.  Apparently none of this information was enough to restrict the killer’s access to military facilities or to revoke his security clearance.

Questions remain unanswered, and I will leave that to the police.  I hold up the people who lost loved ones, the Navy personnel who lost their colleagues, and the families of the two security guards who went down in the early moments of the attack, to the comfort only the Good Shepherd can offer.  And I thank the police, who endured what must have seemed like an eternity of suspense and fear as they hunted down the killer on that huge naval facility.  I can say from personal experience that it is a definitely a test of a police officer’s nerve, or anyone’s for that matter, to pursue a criminal in an unfamiliar area, knowing that the criminal has a shotgun.  Many times a handgun wound is not fatal, but MOST TIMES a shotgun blast is.  

I hope most of all that this, the SECOND multiple-killing on a “secured” military base, will finally catch the attention of the President, the Department of Defense, the Joint Chiefs, and whoever else of import there might be, and will call attention to the ridiculous fact our military personnel are not allowed to be armed on military bases, other than the military police or security units.  It is not necessary that EVERY soldier on a base be armed, but it borders on insanity that military police or other military personnel assigned to security duties cannot be placed on military facilities in sufficient numbers to respond quickly these types of attacks and either prevent them or at least put an end to them as soon as possible.  In the latest attack, the first police on the scene were municipal officers, even though there were military police on the base.

I also hope that military contractors, especially private corporations that do “background investigations” for the military, are themselves investigated.  It is obvious that USIS failed in its contracted mission.   But USIS does not share all the blame.  In fact, the military itself had more than one opportunity to rescind the killer’s security clearance, but did not do so. So it is my hope that the military will take this opportunity to revamp its criteria for selection and retention of vendors and contractors. 

Of course this attack would not have happened at all if the killer himself had not decided to commit this atrocity.  He was probably mentally ill.  He was an intelligent person, obviously, since he was doing IT work for the government.  But something went wrong somewhere and the man chose to take it out on innocent persons.  He paid the ultimate price for his actions.  Unfortunately, other people also paid the ultimate price, as well. 

May the Good Shepherd continue to hold all those effected in his comforting hands. 

There is one more thing I would like to note here.  The killer’s mother is grieving tonight.  Yes, she is grieving for her son, but this poor woman’s heart is also broken for all those lost, and all who weep for their loved ones and friends.  For this sweet lady, too, I pray that the Good Shepherd comfort her during her time of sadness.