With what is leaking out, it would appear that the shooter was reacting to treating PTSD patients, and may have picked the secondary form from long contact, and was angry about the discrimination he faced as a Muslim in the military, and being in the military in the Muslim community. He was being isolated by all sides. Then the military decided to send him to Afghanistan, where the situation would be even worse.
Frankly, if you had someone who needed to be seen by a shrink, the individual needed to be out of the combat zone for everyone’s safety. I can’t see the logic of deploying a clinical psychologist to a war zone. You can train a medic, and should train your leadership to spot people in trouble, and ship them out before they get themselves and others killed by snapping under stress.
]]>Ft. Hood used to have a MP garrison of about a thousand when I was in the biz (and as far as I knew up until they deployed to Iraq).
I was also required to be armed (primary and backup actually, concealed). I had much extra paperwork involved, though in some cases I was required to carry my primary on an open holster to forestall any potential problems.) Amazing how polite people are when they see a quick-draw holster sporting a nasty looking automatic pistol, and especially when they know that the person carrying it knows how to use it well, and will not hesitate to do so.
I’m sure the public won’t know for some time, and I’m also certain that the public will never know the truth (especially given that the USA has no serious investigative reporters these days, only sycophantic gossip mongers.) I could use some remaining contacts here and there… But I’m saving those bridges for a rainy day (about the time the 30 year gag expires actually). Mixed metaphors not withstanding. 😉 Still… I’ll keep my eyes and ears open. 🙂
]]>Thanks to Donald Rumsfeld, security on the post is provided under contract, i.e. they don’t use Military Police to patrol the facility. Another point is that there are very few weapons readily available on a military facility in the US, as most are in the armory and have to be signed out. Because I carried around classified, I was an exception and usually had a standard Air Force .38 revolver to balance the briefcase. It was a PITA in the US, one more stop and detail when I went on duty. We had to count and sign for ammunition.
We aren’t going to know what really happened for months, if ever.
]]>I seem to remember Fort Hood coming up a couple years ago. I did some research on an incident that was reported regarding the 89th MP Brigade that had been deployed to Iraq. One of the unit commanders (William Steele) was accused of breaching military law by aiding the enemy. He was acquitted of the charges, though subsequently, he was convicted of other charges and dismissed from service. The Brigade has been awarded 3 unit honors since ’65.
With a full MP Brigade (comprising 4 battalions) stationed at Fort Hood, I’m curious about this latest incident. That’s an awful lot of cops! 😉 😀
]]>The BBC is now reporting that the suspect isn’t actually dead, but is wounded. Score another for rushing the story before the facts are in.
The suicide rate is very high for the military at the moment, but, as you say, both numbers are out of whack. At my Mother’s someone was talking to a Congresscritter who had supposedly been briefed by the military, but that is what is known as hearsay in the criminal justice world, and not considered admissible evidence at trial.
The military commanders really hate the media, and resent having to talk to them, so they are going to get the minimum possible information. They are also being distracted by self-important politicians at all levels, so they are not going to be fit to live with for some time.
]]>79… if that were true, that would be alarming indeed. But somehow, given the fact that we haven’t heard any uproar before this, I doubt that number too.
Yay for the media, doing their usual great job (snark intended, heh).
– Badtux the Media Penguin
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