Sunday, November 5, 2017

Close calls!

I've just finished November drill with the Ohio Military Reserve...and we had a (somewhat) minor incident!
I was sitting at the Security desk with the rest of the Security brigade when a young man came up to the door. One of my partners got up to let him in. He came up to the desk, and told us that he was here to see Major Williams, the recruiter. When I asked him for his ID, he told us that his wallet had been stolen and he didn't have his driver's license with him. Yet, he had still driven himself up anyway. He pulled out his phone and showed us a PICTURE of his driver's license, which we decided looked valid enough, so one of the Security guys escorted him to Major Williams.
While he was with Major Williams, our Sargent kept talking about how "shady" he seemed and how he couldn't be trusted. And I thought so, really. He drove without a license, and just had a picture of his driver's license on his phone? Really? Also, he had said that he had just moved from Iraq (although he spoke perfect English). Don't get me wrong, I hate to profile someone as a terrorist just because they're from Iraq...but you've got to be realistic.
He came back to the desk with Major Williams to sign out, saying that he'd try to be back later in the day...he claimed that he had to talk to his father about enlisting and get his paperwork. By the way, this guy was about thirty-he would NOT need parental permission to enlist!
A couple of hours later, he came back to the desk...when I was the only one there. This time he had a Permanent Residence card showing that he was from Iraq but a resident of the U.S. I thought it best to simply direct him back to Major Williams and keep eyes and ears open.
A while later, he came back with Major Williams and I heard him asking why the OHMR doesn't train with firearms. By this time, the rest of Security had gotten back and the Major waved another guy out as he walked out the door with the "shady" guy. I saw them talking outside, then a few minutes later they came back inside, saying that this was an EXTREMELY shady individual and if he comes back on base, call the cops ASAP! Apparently he had brought up ISIS and Al-Qaeda several times to Major Williams as he was talking to him, and repeatedly asked why the organization "didn't use firearms with the terrorist threat." Don't get me wrong, many of us, myself included, want to be armed (and think it's ridiculous not to arm us) but this was quite obviously an individual who was attempting to figure out our strengths and weaknesses...also if there were any weapons on base that he could get! Again, don't get me wrong, I hate to profile people...but it's best to keep an eye out, especially if you're Security!     

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