WASHINGTON — As the Pentagon deploys more Stinger
missiles around its perimeter to guard against new
al-Qaida threats, an Army fort out West plans to issue
axes to beef up security.
Actually, axes isn’t quite accurate. Some sentries at
Fort
Huachuca in Arizona will only get the wooden part
of the ax — sans blade.
“No firearms for sentry duty. They get ax handles!”
said a U.S. official, who finds the plan ridiculous.
Indeed, a post-wide memo, “Operations Order for Force
Protection Delta Procedures,” advises: “Soldiers …
will be issued a flashlight, batteries and an ax
handle to be used in case of an emergency.”
The March 6 memo obtained by WorldNetDaily adds: “Any
detained personnel will be controlled by the mere
threat of being struck by a wooden ax handle.”
Another memo, distributed March 17 under the subject
line, “FP Con Delta Reactive Procedures,” details
equipment for guards at the fort.
“Guards: Battle Dress Uniform (BDU), sleeves down,
Kevlar, LBE [load-bearing equipment], weather
appropriate over garment, and axe handle club,” it
states.
A spokesman at Fort Belvoir here, where all guards are
issued firearms, chuckled at the ax-handle contingency
at Fort Huachuca. “I’ve never heard of such a thing,”
Don Carr said.
A spokeswoman at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, also
was amused, saying guards there always carry loaded
weapons.
A spokesman at the Department of Army here was equally
incredulous.
“I’m not aware of any policy regarding ax handles, and
I have no idea why any post would have such a policy,”
said Army Maj. Chris Conway.
He notes that fort security is the responsibility of
each fort commander. “It’s not a cookie-cutter thing,”
Conway said.
Fort Huachuca, home to a U.S. Army Intelligence Center
unit, will not issue the ax handles unless there is a
major event of stateside terrorism, which would
trigger the security upgrade to Delta, the highest
warning level.
The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency here, however,
has raised its warning recommendation for all military
facilities to Delta, after al-Qaida leaders this week
issued threats against U.S. military installations.
“We have not changed our plans,” said Fort Huachuca
spokeswoman Tanja Linton. “We’re at Bravo-plus.”
In response to terror warnings, commanders can raise
force-protection levels at their bases at Alpha,
Bravo, Charlie or Delta.
The Pentagon is at Charlie.
