WASHINGTON, Aug. 7 (UPI) — The U.S. Navy announced it will post armed guards beginning in mid August at all of its reserve centers nationwide in response to the Chattanooga, Tenn., shooting that left four Marines and a sailor dead at a reserve center last month.
The Navy sent an email to reservists days after the attack asking for volunteers for 45 days of “armed sentry watchstander duty” at 53 Reserve Centers beginning Aug. 17. By Oct. 17, the program will be expanded to 70 centers with sentries committing to a full year of service. The guards will be reservist voluntarily called to active duty.
The Navy has declined to say who would be armed at the entry points and at which facilities.
The move is aimed at shoring up security at military facilities after Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez, 27, killed five people at a Chattanooga reserve center on July 16. He also drove past a military recruiting center, firing as many as 30 shots and injuring one Marine. Since the attack, armed citizens have stationed themselves outside military recruitment centers to offer protection even though military officials have been trying to discourage vigilantism.
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