Shootings at military bases shake sense of security

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http://kdhnews.com/military/shootings-at-military-bases-shake-sense-of-security/article_69a890ee-20dc-11e3-abee-0019bb30f31a.html

Shootings at military bases shake sense of security
Posted: Thursday, September 19, 2013 4:30 am
Associated Press

Armed guards stand at the gates. IDs are needed to pass through electronic barriers. And uniformed members of the American military — well-trained and battle-tested — are everywhere, smartly saluting as they come and go.

And yet, twice in less than four years, a person with permission to be there passed through the layers of protection at a U.S. base and opened fire, destroying the sense of security at the installations that embody the most powerful military in the world.

“It is earth-shattering. When military bases are no longer safe, where is safe if that even doesn’t exist anymore?” said Col. Kathy Platoni, a reservist who keeps a gun under her desk after witnessing the shooting at Fort Hood in Texas in 2009, when Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan killed 13 people.

In the wake of this week’s deadly rampage at the Washington Navy Yard, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered the Pentagon to review security at all U.S. defense installations worldwide and examine the granting of security clearances that allow access to them.