Forward Observation Post - Vermillion » Warrior

Ft. Hood Shooting

FOPVermillion — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:29:47 +0000

Watching the news stories about the shooting at Fort Hood, I kept thinking how similar it was to the Virgina Tech shooting two years ago. As the facts available now point to one shooter (there is a search for suspects) who is a person with mental health issues, who took at least two handguns and quite a bit of ammunition and shot at least 50 people in a short period of time. Once again my first reaction was if only someone with a gun had been there to stop him. Once again I look at the reports of the location described and I know there would be no one armed near by. The location was one that was part clinic and part administration building. The people working there were likely the kind of stereotypical rear-echelon individuals who only saw a weapon when they qualified and didn’t see it again for six months to a year. These were not warriors who run to the sounds of the guns. They were just your ordinary people who work in an office but wear camouflage instead of khakis. The people visiting the building were there to get their affairs in order or to get check ups and likely were on auto pilot. When the shooting started, I am sure the first response was one of disbelief. From here on, anything would be wild speculation.

While people think of the military as being the people with the guns, the truth is that a base/post is one of the biggest gun free zones there are. All the governments weapons are strictly controlled and the rules are strict on personal ownership. If there was a weapon within several blocks of the shooting, I guarantee it was in a locked building with several layers of security. So once again, we have a shooting in an area where we have made it easy for the shooter to go about his business with minimal risk for the first critical moments of the attack. Bret Baier spent much of his time talking about how many bullets the guy must have fired. I am sure there will be much talk about the tools this murderer used today. However, I for one can’t help but think of the tools denied to so many of the victims. A few guns in the hands of the people in the building could have saved many lives. I think it is safe to assume nearly everyone shot today had training with a weapon and would have been able to effectively defend themselves given the opportunity. The ironic part is that if this happened in theater the shooter, rather than the victims, would never have stood a chance because of the hail of bullets.

- FOP Vermillion

Photo-op or Respect? UPDATE

FOPVermillion — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:18:17 +0000

Last night the President went to Dover AFB and paid his respects to eighteen fallen soldiers as they came home to their families. Considering this is the same person who had to be shamed into meeting with the commander of our forces there, and who has been unable to make a decision on troop levels and strategy, I have a hard time not being cynical about the motivation. (Now to be fair the tone of the WSJ linked article bothers me so maybe the warm and fuzzy feeling just went away too quickly.) Knowing what I know about our CINC I imagine the decision was made on the basis of the photo-op and who died (most died in a helicopter crash rather than in combat) rather than honor for the fallen.

Prove me wrong Mr. President. Don’t make this a one time thing. Honor our warriors and their sacrifice. They deserve it and they have earned it.

- FOP Vermillion

Update: Well it looks like Hot Air has caught the friends of the White House at the NY Times covering up the fact that the trip to Dover AFB was a calculated move that looked good. The operative phrase is “intended by the White House to convey to the nation that Mr. Obama was not making his Afghanistan decision lightly or in haste.” I would rather have been proved wrong.

Project Valour-IT

FOPVermillion — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:40:50 +0000

I am happy to say I have joined the Army team for the Project Valour-IT fun raiser. This project raises money to buy technology for wounded warriors and supports their recovery. This is a great cause and I fully support it.

- FOP Vermillion