FBI says U.S. criminal gangs are using military to spread their reach

[lebkuchen]

no thanks to Chimpy and his lowered recruitment bar.

A few weeks ago it was front page news that members of the Stryker Brigade, which has recently arrived to the Vilsek/Grafenwohr area, put some German youth in the hospital after late-night fights in nearby Amberg (what was formerly a lovely peaceful town). Searches of the barracks turned up collapsable batons and brass knuckes. The Germans in the area are now afraid to go out at night or approach US soldiers in their streets.

Any American who has been to Germany will say they feel perfectly safe at all hours, day/night, in Germany. Americans are now turning Germans into hostages in their own homes. A day rarely goes by in Stripes where a story about a soldier committing a crime or doing hard time isn't being reported.

U.S. criminal gangs have gained a foothold in the U.S. military and are using overseas deployments to spread tentacles around the globe, according to the FBI.

...

Soldiers are reluctant to talk openly about gang problems. However, Spc. Bautista Kylock, 21, of the 2nd Cavalry (Stryker) Regiment in Vilseck, Germany, said last week that there are gang members within his unit.

Kylock blamed recent violence around Vilseck on soldiers affiliated with the Crips and Bloods street gangs.

Scott Barfield, a former Defense Department gang detective at 2nd Cav’s last duty station, Fort Lewis, Wash., told the Sun-Times earlier this year that he had identified more than 300 soldiers at the base as gang members.

“I think that’s the tip of the iceberg,” he said.

[Mythsaje]

1. I was living in Bremerton, WA

a navy town, in 1990 and a local drug house was busted by the Shore Patrol... Everyone involved was Navy, and also a gang member.

So, yeah, this has been going on for a while.

[lebkuchen]

25. Today it's the Stripes headline

and that's a first.

[Ron Green]

2. It's our brand of sectarian violence.

Sunni, Shi'a. . . Crip, Blood. . .

[bluestateguy]

3. That's what happens when you lower recruitment standards

but they want to keep on being able to brag that they are meeting their enlistment quotas.

[Target_For_Exterm]

4. What do they expect when they're recruiting gang members?

I talked to a military type years and years ago about a gang member from East LA I ran into who told me about a murder he had committed as a youth (he was at that time in the military). The non-gang affiliated military type responded by saying they like recruiting the guys that know how to kill. It kind of knocked me back, I can tell you.

[GreenZoneLT]

5. Oh, piffle.

Gang detectives have slightly more credibility than the cops who "investigate" Satanic pedophilia rings. They think every kid with a tattoo who listens to hip hop is a gang recruiter. Yeah, there's probably more crime and violence in the Army now; slightly lowered recruiting standards and the presence of combat vets will do that. But on the scale of stuff to worry about, this ranks somewhere between Utah polygamy and outlaw bikers.

[Target_For_Exterm]

6. Hey, I have a polygamist living next door. If they weren't such

good neighbors, I'd worry. What makes them good neighbors? They don't bug me, and I don't bug them. The definition of a good neighbor.

[GreenZoneLT]

7. OK, but watch yourself

If they get tattoos and/or a Harley, contact the authorities IMMEDIATELY. :)

[Target_For_Exterm]

8. Roger. Thanks for the advice.

:rofl:

I don't want any long haired commie pinkos next door and all that. :rofl:

[silverojo]

11. Nothing to "piffle" about

The gangs WANT military experience, to make them more effective at handling weapons, killing, etc. Just because they're in the service doesn't mean they're going to change their ways. The reason they're there is to be more effective at being evil.

And they've got the perfect commander-in-chief to lead them.

[lebkuchen]

17. Gays in the military is "piffle"

The gay military population is probably beyond the DoD's wildest nightmares. Now that it has its hands full w/the Sharks v. Jets, maybe the hunt for homosexuals will taper off.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

24. Really?

I thought they were there for the college education.

"The reason they're there is to be more effective at being evil."

:rofl:

[Kellyiswise]

9. And a lot of these pervs are in Iraq. We need to start telling the truth about

our military. We send of to fight these wars a bunch of honest, sincere, patriotic kids AND also a bunch of social misfits, bigots, and near-do-wells who would be disgraceful human beings in or out of the military. They corrupt a lot of good soldiers in one way or another and when they return home they become as anti-social as the ones who corrupted them.

[Sapphire Blue]

10. What does the FBI say about neoNazis, skinheads & other racist extremists infiltrating the military?

[lebkuchen]

14. This is from the article:

Jim Kouri, vice president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police, wrote recently that, in addition to the Gangster Disciples, other Chicago gangs such as the Latin Kings and Vice Lords have infiltrated the military along with neo-Nazi groups.

[Yukari Yakumo]

12. Sadly, nothing new.

Americans are now turning Germans into hostages in their own homes. A day rarely goes by in Stripes where a story about a soldier committing a crime or doing hard time isn't being reported.

Substitute Japan for Germany and it still holds true.

[lebkuchen]

13. Where in Japan?

I lived on Okinawa for several years and didn't notice that the Japanese were afraid of Americans despite the high publicity of a rape awhile back and the governor's intense efforts to remove the military from the island. The island is only 65 mi by 15 mi wide. W/20,000 Americans adding to the noise, traffic, garbage and water shortage issues, the governor had a case: Okinawa was carrying more than its fair share of the American burden for Japan.

As for gangs on the island among the marines, air force and navy, with a few Army special forces thrown in, I never heard there was a problem when I was there, though it's mentioned in the article that gangs exist there now (as does the Japanese mafia).

Among the army in Germany, yes, there are gangs as per the FBI's investigation, and gangs are among their HS kids as well. When the kids are walking down the street, sometimes you can notice a clothing style, with one sock up and the other down and so forth...subtle stuff, which is gang related, or at least has been known to be here in the past.

[Solly Mack]

15. Is that any way for the FBI to talk about the CIA?

Just saying...

On a serious note: Yes, there are gang members within the US military.

[lebkuchen]

16. I thought that beating death in K-Town had been reported as a masonic ritual

Now it's what, the Hatfields v. McCoys?

I am amazed that the crips and bloods are in backwater Vilsek/Graf. Hopefully they'll be taking their frustrations out on the artillery range, though not on each other. That's a rather poor region of Bavaria. I know they were looking forward to the $$$ moving in, but they didn't anticipate the social problems that go w/it.

[Solly Mack]

21. Last I heard it was still part of a masonic ritual or whatever

I know the Masons here were questioned...but didn't hear much more about the case after that. Masons were quite hostile about being questioned. If you're talking about the case up my way.

Way back when, mid-90's, parents were warned in the Springs (Colorado) to not allow their children to go to the youth center on post because of the gangs present. It was the 4 corner squares or something like that..

Shortly before we left there two kids were murdered, execution style, just outside one of the gates by housing. Turns out the 2 who did the killing were also the dependents of soldiers...and gang members.

On another post, in Georgia, known...and I mean known, gang members were housed in the same housing area.."to better keep a watch on them"...it was well known all over post that that particular housing area housed gang members... there was a lot of crime on that post...a lot. Murder/rape/drug running...

[lebkuchen]

22. for that reason...

I do not wish to move to the Vilsek/Graf area, ever. Do you remember reading in Stripes a few weeks ago that the drive for many Stryker Brigade soldiers arriving was 40 minutes or more one way to work each day due to lack of housing? Those roads are two lane, and in winter, w/black ice, I can picture some young soldier behind the wheel bearing a grudge and one too many beers...

[leftofthedial]

18. beginning with the bush cabal themselves

[lebkuchen]

19. There's a point

Constituents are to their leadership as owners are to their pet dogs.

[Hubert Flottz]

20. DAMN...I hate to hear stuff like that!

I spent some time in the Vilsek/Grafenwohr area and I loved the people down there. Always spoke to you on the streets and smiled. Always fed me and took good care of me when I was in town.

There is nothing in the world that Bushism hasn't spoiled. Bush is a blight on America.

[lebkuchen]

23. Stripes said awhile back Germans were now afraid to see Americans on the street

I've lived somewhere overseas for the last 17 years, and I've never experienced or known about local national fear of Americans. Add "lost goodwill" to the list of that which Bush has destroyed.

Has your culinary expertise been put to good use lately? :)







PS You didn't move to NM and change your name, did you?

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Mans_antiBush_Christmas_light_creates_furor_1206.html

[Hubert Flottz]

26. I miss Comrade's cooking!

Dreams of snitzels and shaslicks very often dance through my head, I'll freely admit. I live near an Aldi store here and can get a few German goodies once in a while. Christmas cakes, beer and wine and even some fair tasting imported bratwurst.

How could people want to go around starting fights in a storybook looking place Germany?

And when I was there I was too busy to fight! I was going to the Zoom Club.>>>

http://www.elephant-talk.com/releases/zoomclub.htm

http://www.disciplineglobalmobile.com/vision.htm?show=128&id=46

[lebkuchen]

28. Does King Crimson put out CD's?

I'll bet money that you still have a turntable. :)

Send me your address and I'll send you some German stuff. This weekend I pack and Monday, it's the base post! Prepare your wish list!

[Hubert Flottz]

29. I do still have a fine old direct drive turntable and crates of LPs...

And as of today, I even have SNOW! It's pouring it down outside. Starting to look like Wildflecken outside.(coldest place on Earth)

[lebkuchen]

30. Ka-ching!

Meanwhile, it's quite warm in Wildflecken. The alps are melting and the Austrians are nervous!

This is your day to R & R and listen to some good memories.

[butterfly77]

27. Seems as though america is...

determined to create more and more enemies all over the world and then expect our sons and daughters to fight them...