Fort Dix terror target?

[mikeylikey]

Just read that Fort Dix was targeted by  group of terrorists for a HUGE attack.  It is breaking news on all the news sites.  Big question.......will the McGuire Airshow be canceled because of this? 

[NIN]

Doubt it, but you can darn sure bet that you'll get the "Security High Colonic" on entry...

[fyrfitrmedic]

From kyw1060.com:

McGuire Air Force Base sits next to Fort Dix, in Burlington County, NJ. Even after the terrorism plot was revealed on Tuesday, a planned "Air Expo" is on for this weekend.

The Open House and Air Expo is set for this weekend, with up to 150,000 people expected on the McGuire base each day.

Maj. James Greathouse says even with the terrorism threat at adjoining Fort Dix was disclosed, the show will go on:

"One of the things we learned after 9/11 is we can't cower, and we can't change who we are and what we do because of some of those folks out there. What we can do is learn and be safe and be cautious, and take all the precautions we can."

He says security on base has been increased already. And this weekend, every car will be scanned; no bags, backpacks or coolers will be allowed; and every person will go through at least one metal detector.

[DNall]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070508/ap_on_re_us/fort_dix_plot

[floridacyclist]

After spending time there for Airbase Ground Defense Training in the '80s, one can almost wish for a little success on the raghead's part...like maybe just blow up the low-crawl pit.

[shorning]

After spending time there for Airbase Ground Defense Training in the '80s, one can almost wish for a little success on the raghead's part...like maybe just blow up the low-crawl pit.

I guess wishing the terrorist success was one way you could go with it...

[floridacyclist]

I think it's pretty obvious that my tongue was firmly planted in my cheek. If that doesn't work, I'm blaming it on the Percoset :-D

[JC004]

What kind of sucky, minor-league plotters are these people? 

Losers!  They couldn't convert their VHS or whatever to DVD using a machine from Best Buy?  They didn't think that people might be made nervous by almost a dozen people shooting things and screaming jihad-associated chants?  And they thought they were gonna buy full-auto AK-47's for 500 bucks each?  In what currency?  I don't buy on the black market, but I've never seen a full-auto weapon for 500 bucks - come on.  Hell, my semi-auto AR-15 was more than twice that.  You don't buy a junk weapon for terrorism, anyway.  WTH?!  You terrorists suck!  Now rot in prison. 

[DNall]

What kind of sucky, minor-league plotters are these people? 

Thank God for dumb terrorists!!!! No kidding, if they shared thre brain cells between the whole movement there'd be so many easy ways for us to be in big trouble, but thank the good Lord they're morons.

I'd point out from that story that a CG station was on the hit list. A major one granted, but the CG, who is primarily a domestic rescue & regulatory force & not normally viewed as an offensive military branch. Just food for thought.

[fyrfitrmedic]

What kind of sucky, minor-league plotters are these people? 

Thank God for dumb terrorists!!!! No kidding, if they shared thre brain cells between the whole movement there'd be so many easy ways for us to be in big trouble, but thank the good Lord they're morons.

I'd point out from that story that a CG station was on the hit list. A major one granted, but the CG, who is primarily a domestic rescue & regulatory force & not normally viewed as an offensive military branch. Just food for thought.

The specific CG station on their target list is far from the choicest target in that area...

[Pumbaa]

Amazing.. and to think FT Monmouth was on thier watch list too.  I was there for 2 weeks last fall and I am scheduled to go back later this year.

Well I am now schedule to head off to Kuwait in July.. perhaps it will be safer there!

Tounge in cheek

[BillB]

Does this mean driving a disguised black van  I can't blow up a building on S Hansell St???  Darn just after I bought an expensive towel from Walmart.  But at least I have my Red Rider 50 shot BB gun safely hidden.

[LTC_Gadget]

"Dumb and Dubmer 3 - Jihad".. indeed.

Unfortunately, all kidding aside, we know they're not *all* that dumb. How different a world it would be if that were so. 

Too bad their kids aren't distracted by video games, affected by ADD, rap music, recreational pharmaceuticals or any of several other afflictions that our kids face.  Their movement would be derailed within a generation.. maybe.

As for targets, I don't know anything about Fort Dix, but I recalled the phrase "think outside the box." Dams are targets because of the damage that can be caused downstream if they're destroyed, the loss of electrical power if destroyed, or the human toll if the water supply is poisoned.  Remote computer operations centers are targets because they are access points into security systems elsewhere, or the systems controlled from those access points. A concrete culvert a half-mile away is targeted because it provides unmonitored access to something else.  If the "front door" is guarded or locked, try the window, the back door, the roof, or come up from underneath. Sometimes an exploit has less to do with the asset being exploited than it does the target to which it provides access if exploited.  As any prison guard will tell you, their side has time to sit back and watch the good guys going about their daily business, find the security holes, spot the complacency, and then devise an exploit.

Let's hope for more dain-bramaged terrorists...

V/R,

[NIN]

After spending time there for Airbase Ground Defense Training in the '80s, one can almost wish for a little success on the raghead's part...like maybe just blow up the low-crawl pit.

I went to Basic there.. The old chow hall across from the reception station (later the HQ for the ABGD school) is now the clothing sales store. My BCT barracks was across the quad from there.

Visited in 2002 when I went to Region Staff College... Looking over those old barracks and the fire roads we used to march on was a little freaky...

I just can't imagine inprocessing & billeting 1100 people for 2 days of airshow.  Gosh!

[ddelaney103]

Does this mean driving a disguised black van  I can't blow up a building on S Hansell St???  Darn just after I bought an expensive towel from Walmart.  But at least I have my Red Rider 50 shot BB gun safely hidden.

Careful, you'll put your eye out with that thing...

[JohnKachenmeister]

You know, they made mistakes, but let's not pat ourselves on the back that ALL of our enemies are stupid.

Here are a few of the facts that are coming out:

1.  Their initial target was the Army-Navy game.  I have LONG thought about that event as a target, and I have long believed that security at that event should be beefed up.

2.  The reason they did not hit the Army Navy game was that they did not consider their training, equipment and organization up to the task.  Not to say they won't try later.

3.  One of the terrorists delivered pizza at the base.  He would have been a familiar figure at the gate, and routinely admitted.  There's something to be said for the long lead and planning time for these attacks.

4. WE ARE NOT IMMUNE FROM ATTACK !!!!!!!!!!!!  By "We" I mean the CAP.  Consider the goal of the terrorist:  To demoralize and frighten the civilian population such that they will demand an end to combat operations against the enemy.  (This was the same goal of "Bomber" Harris and Hermann Goring in World War II when they decided to launch aerial bombing campaigns against population centers, BTW)  The wanton killing of a few dozen military cadets, ages 12-18, would be a VERY demoralizing act, or from the point of view of the enemy, a victory.  You know all those cherry-cheeked pre-teen cadets that National likes to use in recruiting brochures, because the mothers of potential cadets think they will look "cute" in their little BDU's?  Picture a few of them in bloody heaps on the grinder where they had been practicing close-order drill.

5.  The defense against attack is to understand that these guys DO engage in detailed planning. They do it right.  They do NOT conduct hasty attacks.  All raids are meticulously planned and follow the planning steps for a deliberate attack that all you guys should have learned in your OCS/ROTC/Military Academy days.  That includes a leaders' recon and rehersals.  That is the weakness:  Be ALERT for anybody conducting a recon. 

So, a parent and prospective cadet come in to "Look the unit over" ask questions, get the meeting schedule, get a good look at your meeting facilities, and then don't join?  Happens all the time, right?

Lets start keeping better records, conduct better follow up, and if someone from a population group associated with the enemy visits the unit and does not subsequently join the squadron, maybe we should put "Political correctness" on the shelf and report it to the FBI.

[SAR-EMT1]

You know, they made mistakes, but let's not pat ourselves on the back that ALL of our enemies are stupid.

Here are a few of the facts that are coming out:

1.  Their initial target was the Army-Navy game.  I have LONG thought about that event as a target, and I have long believed that security at that event should be beefed up.

2.  The reason they did not hit the Army Navy game was that they did not consider their training, equipment and organization up to the task.  Not to say they won't try later.

3.  One of the terrorists delivered pizza at the base.  He would have been a familiar figure at the gate, and routinely admitted.  There's something to be said for the long lead and planning time for these attacks.

4. WE ARE NOT IMMUNE FROM ATTACK !!!!!!!!!!!!  By "We" I mean the CAP.  Consider the goal of the terrorist:  To demoralize and frighten the civilian population such that they will demand an end to combat operations against the enemy.  (This was the same goal of "Bomber" Harris and Hermann Goring in World War II when they decided to launch aerial bombing campaigns against population centers, BTW)  The wanton killing of a few dozen military cadets, ages 12-18, would be a VERY demoralizing act, or from the point of view of the enemy, a victory.  You know all those cherry-cheeked pre-teen cadets that National likes to use in recruiting brochures, because the mothers of potential cadets think they will look "cute" in their little BDU's?  Picture a few of them in bloody heaps on the grinder where they had been practicing close-order drill.

5.  The defense against attack is to understand that these guys DO engage in detailed planning. They do it right.  They do NOT conduct hasty attacks.  All raids are meticulously planned and follow the planning steps for a deliberate attack that all you guys should have learned in your OCS/ROTC/Military Academy days.  That includes a leaders' recon and rehersals.  That is the weakness:  Be ALERT for anybody conducting a recon. 

So, a parent and prospective cadet come in to "Look the unit over" ask questions, get the meeting schedule, get a good look at your meeting facilities, and then don't join?  Happens all the time, right?

Lets start keeping better records, conduct better follow up, and if someone from a population group associated with the enemy visits the unit and does not subsequently join the squadron, maybe we should put "Political correctness" on the shelf and report it to the FBI.

Ok, I will accept your argument on the grounds of "terror"
However, targeting CAP, like targeting the USCG, doesnt make sense, we are in the business of saving lives, not taking them. We arent "combat oriented" ...save the 122 SOS 

The other point I wanted to make is: why havent these folks learned by now that the US or UK or Spain, Russian etc, dont get scared and back down. We never have. We get PO'd and then tend to go into the demolition business.  The end point is that: Nation-states have never ceeded to the "goal" of terrorism.

[ColonelJack]

Ok, I will accept your argument on the grounds of "terror"
However, targeting CAP, like targeting the USCG, doesnt make sense, we are in the business of saving lives, not taking them. We arent "combat oriented" ...save the 122 SOS 

True enough ... but we (CAP) have one very big thing working against us, at least as far as these terrorists are concerned.

We're Americans.

And to a big chunk of the terror community out there, that's all we need to be to make us targets.

That's why vigilance is so essential.

Jack

[Al Sayre]

Remember that Corpsmen and Medics are in the business of saving lives too, and  the enemy knows that if he uses that big red X as a target, he will not only cause a single injury but prevent that man from saving people who may get back in the fight, demoralize the troops who depend on that corpsman, and score a tactical and strategic point for his side by removing a force multiplier.

[SAR-EMT1]

Remember that Corpsmen and Medics are in the business of saving lives too, and  the enemy knows that if he uses that big red X as a target, he will not only cause a single injury but prevent that man from saving people who may get back in the fight, demoralize the troops who depend on that corpsman, and score a tactical and strategic point for his side by removing a force multiplier.

In WWII German Officers court martialed Wehrmacht Soldiers accused of shooting medics. The US Army did the same, though I highly doubt the Japanese at the time we so civilized.
Why cant we go back to the Cold War?