Posted on 09/18/2013 5:57:15 AM PDT by shortstop
In the military, after an engagement with the enemy, it used to be customary to compile an “after-action report.”
It was an assessment of how things went. What the enemy did, what we did, what were the outcomes, and what could we have done better.
In the wake of the attack at the Washington Navy Yard, there will no doubt be an after-action report. Probably there will be several.
One of them should look at the actions of uniformed military personnel during the attack.
I got thinking of that the night of the murders when a Navy captain – the O-6 equivalent of an Army, Air Force or Marine colonel – appeared on several networks recounting what had happened. He told all about hiding in his office. In one interview he said he was going to recommend that the sailor who barricaded the door be given a medal.
I thought about it some more yesterday when the list of victims was released. A dozen sterling people, good Americans and well-loved family members. They were all civilians, and they were all middle-aged or elderly. These were grandparents.
And they were gunned down by a scumbag.
They were defenseless.
And undefended.
Which is where I’d like to make an observation.
In a building that is the workplace for some 1,000 uniformed members of the American armed forces, how does one guy with a shotgun take it over and butcher innocent civilians?How is it that any number of sailors didn’t rush the guy and break his neck?
How is it that the captain was leading the retreat to the USS Shelter In Place while grandpa was getting blown away?
How could naval officers of the United States go on national television and talk about running away? In addition to the captain’s report about conditions under his desk, a Navy commander told about running out of the building, then standing next to a man as the man was gravely wounded, and then running away some more.
Like Admiral Farragut said at Mobile Bay, “Run and hide, run and hide!”
I’m not being critical, and it’s not my place to say anything, but I don’t think we should give medals for hiding in the office and turning off the lights.
That’s what kindergartners and office workers do.
Servicemen stand and fight.
Doesn’t the Navy have something called “repel boarders?”
Sheltering in place is part and parcel of current security thinking, and it certainly has a useful role. But it seems unwise to make it a military tactic.
In this situation, a screw up had a shotgun. He opened fire on a cafeteria of civilians in a building that held something near 1,000 sailors.
As we saw on television, the commander ran and the captain hid, but was there not an officer or petty officer anywhere about that had the presence of mind – and the warrior mentality – to shout, “Follow me, men?”
It would seem that anyone seeing the gunman would recognize that he had a shotgun. It would seem that someone would realize that a shotgun probably holds six rounds, maybe as many as nine. Either way, it has a limited number of rounds and a slow reload.
And it seems like with that many GIs around, infused with the ethic of the American fighting man, some of them would try to take out that enemy.
With their bare hands, if need be.
In a similar situation onetime, an American Sunday school teacher used the phrase: “Let’s roll.”
Certainly there would be danger in such an assault against the attacker. No doubt some sailors would be shot in the effort. But the battle would be won, the threat would be eliminated, and the building would be secured.
And some of those civilians would be saved.
Certainly it was far safer for the individual to hide in an office. But the safety of the individual is not the priority of military service, the defense of the whole is. Men and women in the military are routinely asked to endanger themselves to protect others, to protect government property and to accomplish a mission.
It’s what they do.
But it’s apparently not what they did on Monday.
That was probably because of training to shelter in place – training that should be rethought.
It is possible that two Navy men did try to stop the gunman. On the morning of the incident, authorities were looking for two men – one white in a khaki uniform and one black in fatigues – who were seen on surveillance cameras with guns. Though not identified or explained, these men were determined to be uninvolved. Apparently they were individual sailors who retrieved personal or military weapons and were looking for the gunman.
After Columbine, we recognized that our law-enforcement tactics were wrong, and we changed them. Perhaps after the Navy Yard, we will recognize that some of our victim tactics are wrong, at least for certain types of victims, and they need to be changed as well.
Kindergartners and clerks should continue to hole up and hide, but fighters should think about fighting.
And, surprisingly, in the wake of the Navy Yard attack, it seems that none of them did.
Here’s our after-action report.
A scumbag with limited armament took command of a naval building and rendered some 1,000 sailors combat ineffective. He met no resistance from the military personnel on scene, was unfettered in his attack upon elderly civilians, and was only stopped when outside civilian personnel intervened violently.
The commander left a wounded man on the ground and the captain hid in his office.
Somehow, I don’t think that’s what John Paul Jones meant when he said, “I have not yet begun to fight.”
they are all a bunch of pussies (except maybe the two who tried to stop the lunatic scum)
I am embarrassed that this criminal proceeded unimpeeded by those we pay well to serve and protect
the same sour thinking has come over the cops—don’t take any chances and go home for dinner
Disgusting, they should all be ashamed
Another point is, is makes us look like pussies to the world, first no defense in Banghazi, then the US Navy can’t even stop a madman on a military base
mortifying
our enemies know we are soft, all we care about is food wine sex and a warm place to take a dump
I despise what we have become. God help us
I wondered why so many high ranking Naval officers spoke of running away and trying to hide while a civilian was shot in the head. He continued to run! I sure would not any of them assigned to my security detail, it seems cowardly and not up to the standards of our service members.
BTW before flaming me know that I am an Honorably discharged veteran.
The military is not what it used to be....
Fight?
Fight with WHAT, dumbass????
We be gun-free, don’cha see??
The wussification of America has many parents.
One such parent is Impeached, Bill “Zipper-Boy” Clinton who signed, in 1993, the Exec. Order to ban guns inside buildings on US Military posts.
To put all this in perspective, just ask this question: “What would General George Patton do?”
The surviving families from the massacres at Ft. Hood and The Navy Yard would like to know - - - - .
I saw that interview, I think he implied the shotgun blast was to the head and the vicim clearly was not going to make it. I could be wrong.
I understand, but it still seems somewhat cowardly to me. Just my opinion.
Ping!
surely they could have unlocked the arms room and gone on the attack
I agree, just grab an arm and pull the poor guy.
The 12 civilians killed in this incident and the 13 soldiers killed at Ft. Hood can be laid at Bill Clinton’s door. Incredibly, in 1993 he issued the edict that all military bases should be gun free except for a few security personnel. Unfortunately, these guards did not manage to kill either assailant and it was up to policemen from outside to do defend the military in both attacks.
That is Bill Clinton’s shameful legacy because he distrusted and “hated” the military. Would Hillary be any better? She refused to defend the embassies she was supposed to be in charge of because she didn’t want to send in the military, so the answer is “No.”
The Marines teach their people to fight. The other branches have physical fitness.
Gun free zones are prime targets for the crazies and for for terrorists - Oh! did I repeat myself??
Pretty sad when the “park police” and local LEOtards are better armed than our military. And the thought of service members cowering behind barricaded doors while some crazed 0bamaite slaughters civilians is farking sickening.
That’s because the government don’t trust the military.
This is our new, homosexualized military.
So your ignorant keyboard remark insults me(and them) and pisses me off. Keep your ignorance to your self.
Navy Cmdr. Tim Jirus was outside in an alleyway running for his life, as the man beside him was shot in the head.”He dropped in front of me,” Jirus told reporters outside the Navy Yard in Southeast D.C. “I took off after that.”
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