Guard pulls recruiters; state supports security measures

The state National Guard has temporarily pulled all recruiters out of its three off-base recruiting offices following last Thursday’s attacks on two off-base facilities in Chattanooga, Tennessee, that left five service members dead.

After it did so, the Guard sought Gov. Jack Markell’s support for its recommendations to improve future security at the recruiting stations, where it hopes to return the troops. Tuesday afternoon, Markell blessed the plan, which includes the Guard working closely with local police on training drills and increased state police patrols around recruiting stations.

It does not, however, include arming recruiters, which governors in 11 other states have authorized.

The reason: the state Guard chief, Maj. Gen. Frank Vavala, did not recommended it, Markell spokeswoman Kelly Bachman said Tuesday.

“While it was one possible course of action,” state Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Len Gratteri said, “General Vavala did not ask the governor to authorize arming our recruiters.” He said Vavala feels that “the other measures we are taking will be effective in deterring or preventing any similar threat or action.”

Markell would consider requests for additional security measures, Bachman said.

As of Tuesday, governors in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Mississippi, North Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin had ordered the arming of their off-base recruiters, according to the National Guard Bureau.

At least one of those states, Florida, also pulled its recruiters off the street while officials evaluate security conditions and consider improvements, such as installing bulletproof glass on the fronts of recruiting centers.

Sunday night, U.S. Northern Command, which oversees base security within the continental United States, ordered all U.S. recruiting and reserve centers, and ROTC facilities, to take “additional steps” to increase force protection. Spokesperson Michael M. Kucharek declined to provide details but said the measures are “designed to be random and unpredictable, so that they cannot be easily determined by someone seeking an opportunity.”

At the same time, Defense Secretary Ash Carter has asked the services for recommendations on force protection for those working outside installation gates. He has already approved the closing of some recruiting stations, and Marine Corps Recruiting Command’s decision that its recruiters temporarily not wear their uniforms, Marine Corps Times reported.

Active-duty troops face greater legal obstacles to being armed off base within the United States, including the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, which bans federal use of active troops for law enforcement. Yet Tuesday on Capitol Hill, Gen. Mark Milley, the president’s nominee to become the next Army chief of staff, said that if those legal issues could be overcome, arming recruiters could be appropriate “in some cases.”

“It reminds me a lot of right after 9/11, when we had Guardsmen in the airports [though not in Delaware],” Gratteri said. “It’s not something new. But it’s something very complicated.”

Arming recruiters is a particularly sensitive move. While higher security is obviously the goal, doing so could have a negative impact on trying to attract new recruits. For Guard and reserve recruiters as well as their active-duty counterparts, image and public accessibility are keys to success.

The state Guard’s off-base recruiting offices are located on South Dupont Highway in Dover, in Glasgow’s Peoples Plaza and on South Main Street in Newark. Although recruiters were removed from those offices – “safety of our personnel is our number one priority,” Gratteri said – the Guard wants to return them “as soon as we can.”

“We think it is important to get our recruiters back out in the communities, so our plan is to increase security vigilance and measures using internal resources and also by partnering with local law enforcement,” Gratteri said.

The recruiters will return when the Guard completes a new threat assessment and can transition to its new security procedures. He couldn’t detail those, for obvious reasons. But in general, he said, the state Guard:

•routinely trains with local first responders on “active shooter” scenarios;

•has asked law enforcement to provide increased security patrols and checks;

•will enact other random security measures “to ensure the safety of all our troops who work off site.”

In Chattanooga, a 24-year-old man, Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez, opened fire at an all-services recruiting center and a Navy-Marine Corps training center seven miles away. Four Marines and a sailor were killed; the gunman died in a shootout with police.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of our heroes lost in the terrible shootings in Tennessee,” Guard spokesman Jeremy Webster said Tuesday. “The security and safety of National Guard personnel is a top priority. We are aware some states may take additional measures in that regard in the wake of the tragedy in Chattanooga. We support governors’ and Adjutants’ General efforts to review and strengthen the security of their personnel.”

Contact William H. McMichael at (302) 324-2812 or bmcmichael@delawareonline.com. On Twitter: @billmcmichael