Posted on 03/27/2014 1:26:43 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
jumped between the gunman and a petty officer, saving that officer's life, Navy officials He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcwashington.com ...
Re your post 6, I totally agree, that young man is a hero.
Clip in, chamber empty, standard procedure for Quarterdeck weapons. Have to pull the slide back and release it to chamber a round.
"...or has security been compromised by PCism?" - MadMax,the Grinning ReaperTSA is responsible for issuing the TWIC IDs
"WAVY.com video report asked TSA to reveal who else is required to hold similar TWIC ID
- *Merchant Mariners
- *Port Facility Employees
- *Longshore Workers
- *Truck Drivers
To get a TWIC card, a worker must provide personal information, including fingerprints, and pass a background check conducted by the civilian Transportation Security Administration. Workers pay approximately $130 for a card and must reapply every five years.
Some of that information, including the fingerprints, is embedded in the card. But since the TWIC program was created, it has faced questions about its cost and usefulness, especially because some installations don't have devices to read the cards. Norfolk Naval Station is among them.
Instead, guards at gates and security checkpoints make sure the people presenting TWIC cards match the photos on the cards.
[snip]
Guards typically would not allow a TWIC card holder onto a pier if they hadn't been told ahead of time, he said. It's unclear whether that was the case Monday.
[snip]
A week ago, the Pentagon released a series of recommendations to improve base security after last year's shooting at the Washington Navy Yard. A civilian contractor, Aaron Alexis, killed 12 people before shooting himself. Gortney helped lead the review. Among the recommendations was a continuous evaluation system to routinely update background checks of people who hold security clearances to access military installations.
The Mahan returned to Norfolk in September after an 8-1/2-month deployment that included time in the Mediterranean Sea because of the civil war in Syria. The ship was commissioned in 1998 and has a crew of about 250 sailors and officers, according to a Navy website."
via comment posted at that link:
I am a retired Navy CPO and work on NOB. My questions is... Why was this "contractor" given access to the base after taps and did anyone validate his bill of lading? Installations onboard do not normally take deliveries after working hours unless arranged in advance.
I stood many a gate guard during my 20 yrs of service and this person's need to be onboard after normal working hours would have raised a red flag for sure. Ship's don't take deliveries after taps and if they do they are well aware of who and what is being delivered. Regardless of time of day an 18 wheeler should never be permitted onboard without a valid lading and POC at end point.
Also note:
To get a TWIC card, a worker must provide personal information, including fingerprints, and pass a background check conducted by the civilian. Some felonies disqualify applicants from receiving the security pass, but manslaughter is not listed among them.
Savage's conviction for distribution of a controlled substance might have disqualified him had it happened within the past seven years. More than 2 million people hold valid TWIC cards nationwide.
America is a lesser place with this loss.
***
Amen.
May his soul rest in peace.
And may Perpetual Light shine upon him.
Female petty officer surrenders her weapon to a crazed killer who then kills the man who came to her defense.
***
I went to the story, but I did not see that it was a woman, so I guess you got that info from another story.
Interesting. Because as soon as we heard this story on TV, I turned to my husband and said, “I’ll bet the officer who was overpowered was a woman”.
Women should not be in such positions. Political correctness got this brave man killed. Disgusting.
‘What’s going on there? And when will they tell us the name of the killer? ‘
Good questions. Without PO2 Mayo’s timely and heroic intervention this would likely have been another event similar to the Navy Yard shootings this time on a US warship.
Savage used his transportation worker credential to drive a semi truck onto Norfolk Naval Station on Monday night and used the same card to walk through another security checkpoint at Pier 1, where he boarded the guided missile destroyer Mahan.
On the ship, Savage stripped a gun from the petty officer of the watch and shot and killed Petty Officer 2nd Class Mark Mayo, a base guard who responded to the scene. Savage was shot and killed in the scuffle. Mayo returned fire, a source close to the investigation said, but its not clear if it was his shot that hit Savage.
This afternoon, Savage was identified as the shooter by Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
NCIS has confirmed Savage had no reason or authorization to be on base, according to a Navy news release.
The security breach at Norfolk Naval Station raises questions about the card Savage used to get on the base. The Transportation Worker Identification Credential, or TWIC, was created a decade ago, primarily to ensure security at civilian marine terminals. The government ID cards are also sometimes used to access military bases.
To get a TWIC card, a worker must provide personal information, including fingerprints, and pass a background check conducted by the Transportation Security Administration. Some felonies disqualify applicants from receiving the security pass, but manslaughter is not listed among them. Savage's conviction for distribution of a controlled substance might have disqualified him had it happened within the past seven years. More than 2 million people hold valid TWIC cards nationwide.
Since the TWIC program was created, it has faced questions about its cost and usefulness, especially because some installations don't have devices to read the cards. Norfolk Naval Station is among them. Instead, guards at gates and security checkpoints make sure the people presenting TWIC cards match the photos on the cards.
According to Navy policy, a TWIC card can only be used to access a base or pier if the card holder also presents proof of official business on the installation. Savage, who drove a semi-truck without a trailer onto Norfolk Naval Station around 11 p.m. Monday, did not have business on the base, Navy officials said.
Truck drivers who regularly pick up and deliver freight at Norfolk Naval Station say gate security procedures vary. Occasionally, the guard will search the trailer or ask to see a work order. But usually, according to truck drivers interviewed by The Virginian-Pilot, a TWIC card alone is good enough to get past the gate and onto the base in Norfolk.
"Normally, the bases that recognize the TWIC, once you show it to them, they wave you right on through," said Charles Dirago, a driver for Sheridan Logistics, which transports military equipment across the country. "They might ask, 'Pick up or delivery?' But they don't usually ask for any proof."
Other military bases, including Fort Hood in Texas, require drivers to "jump through more hoops" to gain access. "There is no universal standard," Dirago said. "It depends on the base."
Kaylin Minton, spokeswoman for U.S. Rep Scott Rigell, R-Virginia Beach, said he would consider further action once NCIS and Norfolk Naval Station complete their investigations.
“The safety of our men and women in uniform remains a top priority for our office,” Minton said. ____
Mayo and Savage's bodies were taken to Portsmouth Naval Medical Center, where a doctor from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner’s Office conducted autopsies, a spokesman for the examiner’s office confirmed.
Spokesman Paul Stone said a doctor from the office traveled to Portsmouth from the office on Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to conduct the examinations.
He completed them Tuesday, Stone said. The examiner’s findings will now be compiled in an autopsy report and turned over to investigators. Stone said the report would take about six weeks to prepare.
Navy officials informed Mayo's family of his death Tuesday. His body was no longer at the hospital.
Savage's body remains at the hospital. Family has not yet come forward to claim it for burial.
____
Savage had been in and out of jail over the years, according to court records. He pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in 2008 in connection with the 2005 death of a 30-year-old man in Charlotte, N.C. He and the victim, Maurice Griffin, were riding in a car and began struggling over a gun, said a spokesman with the N.C. Department of Public Safety. The gun fired and the victim was eventually left on the side of the road, where he died.
Savage fled to his home in Portsmouth, where he was later arrested and returned to North Carolina. Savage was released on those charges in 2009, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety. Prior to that, Savage served five years in federal prison in Maryland for selling cocaine.
Griffin, 30, had one child and was also from Hampton Roads. In 1996, he pleaded guilty in Chesapeake to charges of distributing cocaine, according to the Virginia Department of Corrections. He was sentenced to seven years in prison, with six suspended.
Eric Loulies, 40, believes Savage lived across the street from him in a townhouse in the Western Branch section of Chesapeake. He said he couldn’t recall ever speaking to Savage, but saw him in passing.
He said unmarked law enforcement vehicles showed up in the complex on Tuesday, the day after the shooting. It started with one sedan, whose occupant staked out the complex from a side street for at least a couple hours. Then, as many as seven other unmarked vehicles joined him, lining up on a street that leads into the townhome community.
At first, Loulies thought they were involved in a drug bust, which he said are not uncommon in the area. But when he called the Chesapeake Police Department to inquire about the situation, he said police weren’t aware of any activity there.
The men stayed for several hours, but it did not appear that they took anything out of the residence, he said.
When Moslems lose their Protected status?
When Moslems lose their Protected status?
“Finally, there are many non combatant roles in the Navy that women can, and historically have, handled.”
The question is not whether they can handle a role; it’s whether they should.
The answer to that question is no. They do not belong on ships, as ships can find themselves in combat with no warning. They do not belong in shore support jobs, because sailors need to rotate into those jobs when they come off sea duty.
You can’t stay on sea duty—the tip of the spear—continuously for 20 years. You need some time ashore to unwind, and perhaps even see your family. If women are in those shore billets, there is no place to which one can rotate.
Doctors and nurses. Period.
May Almighty God richly reward him for his heroism in the hereafter.
I talked to some folks on NNS (Norfolk Naval Station). Apparently this young man, Mark Mayo, was the Head of the Base Watch. He saw the truck come on base and was suspicious because of an incident with a similar truck (different driver) some days earlier. He followed it and when he saw it stop near the USS Mahan and the driver get out and start up the gang way...he began running to the ship. The Sailor at the top of the gangway on watch was a female sailor whom this person approached and then began struggling with. He (a large, ex-convict who had spent time in prison for attempted murder and crack cocaine) overpowered her and took her gun. That’s when Mayo arrived and pushed the female sailor to the deck and himself took the bullets the intruder fired. That gave the other sailors on watch the time to fire their weapons and cut the intruder down.
He’s dead. Does anybody read the stories posted before commenting anymore?
Thanks for that information. I’m sorry to be so late in responding. I’ve been on the road all day.
I am so impressed by the actions of Mr. Mayo. There are very few people in this world who would have done what he did. He is, as I said, a true hero and I am in awe of his courage.
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