GO Navy!!! It's a start

[Battle Monkey of Zardoz]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/08/08/navy-to-arm-sailors-at-reserve-centers-after-chattanooga-shootings/

It's s start. Better than nothing. Hopefully the other branches follow suit.

[RoadKingLarry]

My bet is issue weapons but no ammo.

[RocketMan]

My bet is issue weapons but no ammo.

Issue weapons.  One loaded magazine locked away in a safe in the bottom drawer of a secured desk in the basement.

[dogmush]

Actually I got to say, of all the services, and I've worked with all of them, the Navy is pretty likely to have ammo if they have weapons.  Behind only the puddle pirates.

That "one mag of force protection ammo still locked in the arms room" is an Army thing.  Probably Wesley Clark's idea for the camps.

[Hawkmoon]

Issue weapons.  One loaded magazine locked away in a safe in the bottom drawer of a secured desk in the basement.

I was thinking the same thing.

[RoadKingLarry]

I'll give Navy a bit of credit for that.
Even during peacetime if we were issued a weapon we had ammo. IIRC for the 1911 it was 3 mags with 5 rounds each, for the 12 ga. I think it was 10 rounds of 00 buck and we got 30 rds in 2 mags for the M14. Of course all mags/ammo were in the pouch and not to be loaded unless really, really needed.

[T.O.M.]

If they issue the weapons without ammo, I'm thinking a loaded mag or two might find its way into the pockets of those drawing guard duty.  Not that we ever did anything like that when I was a grunt...

[French G.]

My first bit of the Navy I had no exposure to small arms. But we had MARDET and a battlegroup, so what's a few 9mm? After 9/11 there was always something, the shotgun watches I stood or supervised carried a C3 590. At my last command I stood entirely too many watches. Everything was C1 with spare mags and entry points were more than one watchstander.

Not sure how you pull this off at recruiting stations, no armory. I still like my MEPs idea. Round up a bunch of medically recovering servicemembers, give them guns and a room close to the entrance with couches and a X-Box.  

[freakazoid]

I'll give Navy a bit of credit for that.
Even during peacetime if we were issued a weapon we had ammo. IIRC for the 1911 it was 3 mags with 5 rounds each, for the 12 ga. I think it was 10 rounds of 00 buck and we got 30 rds in 2 mags for the M14. Of course all mags/ammo were in the pouch and not to be loaded unless really, really needed.

Yup. The M9 is ready to go in Condition 1. M16/M4 sits in Condition 3.

[Devonai]

Issue weapons.  One loaded magazine locked away in a safe in the bottom drawer of a secured desk in the basement.

In a disused lavatory with a sign that read, "Beware of the Leopard."

[MechAg94]

My first bit of the Navy I had no exposure to small arms. But we had MARDET and a battlegroup, so what's a few 9mm? After 9/11 there was always something, the shotgun watches I stood or supervised carried a C3 590. At my last command I stood entirely too many watches. Everything was C1 with spare mags and entry points were more than one watchstander.

Not sure how you pull this off at recruiting stations, no armory. I still like my MEPs idea. Round up a bunch of medically recovering servicemembers, give them guns and a room close to the entrance with couches and a X-Box.  

On your last idea, I wonder if disabled veterans who could still handle a pistol or rifle would be interested in duty like that. 

[vaskidmark]

All well and good it you are deterring shoplifters or want to stop bank robbers DRT.  But to "defend" a position from an enemy that is going to shoot it up from a distance or run a car/truck/camel bomb at it you are going to need perimeters and barriers and all that sort of stuff.  (How far away did McVey park?)

Smoke with no mirrors, only a large bellows.  My flabber is utterly ghasted that active and prior service here do not recognize this.  Not so much the brass hats at the top of the food chain of active duty.

stay safe.

[T.O.M.]

All well and good it you are deterring shoplifters or want to stop bank robbers DRT.  But to "defend" a position from an enemy that is going to shoot it up from a distance or run a car/truck/camel bomb at it you are going to need perimeters and barriers and all that sort of stuff.  (How far away did McVey park?)

Smoke with no mirrors, only a large bellows.  My flabber is utterly ghasted that active and prior service here do not recognize this.  Not so much the brass hats at the top of the food chain of active duty.

stay safe.

It's unfortunately a balancing act.  How do you balance the need for access and to appear friendly in the homeland, while trying to provide some means of security.  Sandbags, bunkers, razor wire, belt feds, mortars, etc., would give you better perimeter security, but doesn't look as warm and fuzzy to the neighbors.

[cordex]

All well and good it you are deterring shoplifters or want to stop bank robbers DRT.  But to "defend" a position from an enemy that is going to shoot it up from a distance or run a car/truck/camel bomb at it you are going to need perimeters and barriers and all that sort of stuff.  (How far away did McVey park?)

Smoke with no mirrors, only a large bellows.  My flabber is utterly ghasted that active and prior service here do not recognize this.  Not so much the brass hats at the top of the food chain of active duty.

Sort of depends on the likelihood of the perceived threat, doesn't it?  Same as with regular person self defense.

[Tallpine]

It's unfortunately a balancing act.  How do you balance the need for access and to appear friendly in the homeland, while trying to provide some means of security.  Sandbags, bunkers, razor wire, belt feds, mortars, etc., would give you better perimeter security, but doesn't look as warm and fuzzy to the neighbors.

Maybe that's not such a bad thing 

[T.O.M.]

Maybe that's not such a bad thing 

At most places, you're right.  At a recruiting station, maybe not so much.

[freakazoid]

All well and good it you are deterring shoplifters or want to stop bank robbers DRT.  But to "defend" a position from an enemy that is going to shoot it up from a distance or run a car/truck/camel bomb at it you are going to need perimeters and barriers and all that sort of stuff.  (How far away did McVey park?)

For now that's all they have done. How long until they realize that they can just walk in completely unopposed and shoot everybody, or worse.

[Scout26]

Most recruiting stations have turned into joint operations.  All four services (and sometimes even the CG) are in one place.  Having at least one service armed will serve as a deterrent to copycats and other terrorists.

And if your office(s) are in a strip mall (and most recruiting stations are), then it's real hard to do the enter defensive perimeter thing.  Remember McVeigh used a rental truck.  Are we going to start searching every one of those?  As an FYI, many companies use rental trucks for deliveries for when their regular fleet trucks breakdown, or if the delivery is too large to fit in their usual vans or trucks.

[vaskidmark]

If a person wants to join the armed forces they ought to have at least some taste (other than RPG with their buds over Cheetos and chocolate milk) of what it is going to be like.  Crawling through barbed with while somebody is shooting at you both gives that taste and weeds out the less successful candidates before wasting all that time and money on basic training.

Sort of like the performance evaluation some companies use in the hiring process.

[/sarcasm]

[maybe]

stay safe.

[dm1333]

Actually I got to say, of all the services, and I've worked with all of them, the Navy is pretty likely to have ammo if they have weapons.  Behind only the puddle pirates.

That "one mag of force protection ammo still locked in the arms room" is an Army thing.  Probably Wesley Clark's idea for the camps.

The Coast Guard doesn't make people sign out a weapon without ammo, and "one mag of force protection ammo"?  That's just silly.