The Army has always had a real problem with being afraid of soldiers carrying guns. Now the roosters have come home to roost. The soldier was an MP too, which would presumably mean he carried a sidearm regularly as part of his duties.
4 thoughts on “Ridiculous Policy Gets Solider Killed”
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Interestingly, the Fort Richardson policy says nothing about open carry, which is legal in Alaska. Unfortunately, it would not have helped in this instance, since bars are off limits for open carry.
I grieve for this Soldier and I, too, believe that no citizen should be debarred arms for their own protection.
With that said, however, Soldiers understand limitation of our rights is one of the sacrifices we make upon entering the service. Upon entering active duty, every Soldier swears to “…obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice…” I say this as a Soldier currently on active duty. Uncle Sam’s dime, Uncle Sam’s rules….
There are options, however. First, Soldiers retain the right to unencumbered contact with their elected officials. If I was stationed in USARAK, that is what I would have done the first day this regulation was published — I would have written to my representatives, senators, and (for good measure) the Governor of Alaska. Alternatively, if I got no satisfaction through that route (or if it was taking too long), I would have requested a change of station out of USARAK. If worse came to worse, I could always volunteer to deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan as an individual augmentee or replacement — safer than DC, Chicago, and most areas of Los Angeles.
Shameful, just plain shameful. This is one area me and US military have always disagreed on and I wish to see it change. If you are tasked with defended the US Constitution, you should also be able to exercise it as well.
I served under then LTC Layfield. I’m not surprised as his only concern is getting promoted. I served under some great officers, but Layfield was not one of them.