Agreed. What if you are the E6 in charge of a recruiting center in, say, Eastern Tennessee and some of your guys don't own a personal weapon? Troops should be able to carry their issued weapon either on base or at a designated work location.
(Recognizing that this could be awkward for the 13 Bravo types and some others the carrying of personal weapons should still be permitted.)
Personnel in secial duty positions like recruiting are not issued weapons nor do their units possess any. SO that is a moot point. The recuiting battalion/squadron etc commander ( O5 or higher) can authorize privately owned weapons etc.
This is a smoke up your six message- no LtCol etc is going to widely authorize anyone in his command to carry- just not happening as the restriction of federal buildings etc apply- my two-NCO recruiting station in Ionia MI on the early 90s was a federal contract facility- schools, etc.
Military JAGs/SJAs are so tight-assed, self assured and litigation oriented that they will find even the most qualified and security cleared/PRP personnel to be unfit to walk among them armed.
I could tell you me and my partner carried even though MI had no CCW provision nor the Army, but then I would have been breaking a bunch of rules....
Unless and until the military is directed to allow all who are otherwise not prohibited-including retirees, lawful visitors of any/all sorts to installations etc, it will be useless. Certain exceptions to open or concealed carry would of course be appropriate, but the exception, not the rule.
As a former Recruiting District CO that included all of Tennessee, I would have had no problem letting most of them carry. I did, every single day and everywhere I went, and that was ten years ago. The Reserve 04 at Chattanooga proved it was the right choice.