From G. Alan Ferguson via the email list of Col. Wayne V. Morris, USMC (Ret)

By Dawn Lim and Ross Gianfortune dlim@govexec.com March 5, 2010Thursday evening's shootout between Pentagon police officers and a gunman apparently motivated by anti-government sentiment was the latest in a spate of attacks on federal employees and facilities and serves as a stark reminder that public servants too often find themselves unexpectedly in harm's way. The following timeline reviews major attacks during the past two decades.

Feb. 18, 2010. A small [single-engine plane] is flown into a building housing a federal tax office in Austin, Texas, injuring 13 and killing two. The pilot, Joseph Andrew Stack, was angry with the Internal Revenue Service.

Nov. 5, 2009. An Army psychiatrist goes on a rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, killing 13 people and wounding dozens. The alleged gunman, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, was a Muslim who had been in contact with a radical Imam and was about to be deployed overseas.

June 1, 2009. A gunman opens fire on a U.S. military recruiting office in Little Rock, Ark., killing one soldier and wounding another. The suspect, a Muslim convert, opposed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but was not affiliated with a larger terrorist network.

Sep. 12, 2006. Four Islamic militants armed with guns, grenades and a car bomb attack the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, killing one and injuring 14. The attack came at a time of heightened anti-American sentiment because of U.S. support for Israeli military action in Lebanon.

Sep. 18, 2001. Envelopes containing anthrax and notes with radical Islamist rhetoric are sent to news organizations and two senators. Five people die and at least 22 people -- including postal workers -- are infected. The FBI said Bruce Ivins, an Army biodefense expert who committed suicide in 2008, orchestrated the attacks himself.

Sep. 11, 2001. Hijackers linked to al Qaeda crash a commercial jet into the west side of the Pentagon, less than an hour after the World Trade Center came under attack. Passengers seize control of Flight 93 from hijackers and crash the plane, thought to have been headed for the Capitol or White House, into a field in Shanksville, Pa. 189 die in the Pentagon; 2,751 die in New York, and 40 die in Pennsylvania.

Oct. 12, 2000. An al Qaeda suicide attack damages the Navy destroyer USS Cole in the port of Aden, Yemen, killing 17 sailors and injuring 39.

Aug. 7, 1998. Trucks loaded with explosives go off almost simultaneously outside U.S. embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, killing 233. A group linked to Egyptian Islamic Jihad took credit for the bombings, making Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri household names.

July 24, 1998. A paranoid schizophrenic enters the Capitol Building and opens fire, killing two police officers.

April 19, 1995. A homemade bomb destroys Oklahoma City's Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, injuring more than 800 and killing 168. Army veterans Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were behind the attack, which caused $652 million worth of damage. They claimed they acted to protect the Constitution.

Oct. 29, 1994. A gunman fires a semiautomatic rifle from a fence outside at the White House's north lawn at a group of men, thinking President Clinton is among them. (Clinton was reportedly in the family residence watching a football game.) Tourists subdue Francisco Martin Duran and no one is injured in the attack.

Sept. 12, 1994. In an attempt to assassinate President Clinton, Frank Eugene Corder, an alcoholic and drug abuser, flies a stolen plane from Aldino Airport in Maryland into the White House lawn. He dies in the attack.

Feb. 26, 1993. A car bomb goes off below the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York, where some federal agency offices are located. The al Qaeda attack fails to bring down the towers as originally planned, but kills six and injures more than 1,000.

Jan. 25, 1993. A gunman fires on cars waiting near the entrance of the CIA's headquarters in Langley, Va., killing three agency employees and wounding two more. The shooter, Mir Aimal Kasi, was angry with U.S. policy in the Middle East.

All graduates of ITG’s weapons training programs will recognize the terminology ‘The Startle Reflex.’ It is because of The Startle Reflex that we strongly believe in scanning for threats with the finger OFF the trigger. This may be one example of an instance where such training would have saved the officer from a natural, physiological reaction that will likely be deemed a mistake.

From KSAZ Fox 10 TV in Phoenix, AZ

Police Sergeant Accidentally Shoots Man

Updated: Thursday, 11 Mar 2010, 12:14 PM MST
Published : Thursday, 11 Mar 2010, 5:49 AM MST

PHOENIX - A man wanted for pistol whipping another person is in critical condition after a Phoenix police officer accidentally shot him.

Officers tell us they were looking for the 27-year-old man because he had reportedly hit someone with a gun and threatened to kill them earlier in the day near 45th Street and Baseline Road.

Officers were told the suspect always carried a gun.

While looking for the man, they saw him leave an apartment. A sergeant had his weapon drawn and was turning a corner when he ran right into the suspect.

"He came to him face to face and he startled...and the sergeant's gun went off and struck the suspect in the shoulder." said Sgt. Tommy Thompson of the Phoenix Police Department.

Police say the suspect told people inside the apartment that if police tried to arrest him, he would "shoot it out" with them.

No other injuries were reported.

Thompson says the suspect had a pistol tucked in his waistband.

The 36-year-old sergeant will be placed on administrative leave, standard practice in officer-involved shootings.

From Hampton Roads, VA News Channel 3, WTKR.com

A sheriff's deputy who ended up in the hospital after accidentally shooting himself in the hand is talking about his gun handling skills as he prepares to run for Chowan County sheriff.

Chowan County Sheriff's Deputy Tim Brabble was cleaning his Glock handgun when it went off, shooting himself in his left hand. It happened two weeks ago today when Deputy Brabble was off duty and home alone. Speaking out for the first time about it, he is taking 100 percent of the blame.

"Unfortunately, just human error, I forgot to take one out of the chamber, no fault of the gun. I mean, the gun's a great gun. I still have it. I intend to carry it. I think Glock is a fine weapon, just human error, I forgot to unload the chamber," Deputy Brabble said.

Chances are he won't forget again.

"I have no excuse. I don't know why I did not unload it that day. I've been handling guns safely for 30 plus years and never made that mistake and for whatever reason, I just skipped that step."

Deputy Brabble says he was immediately upset with himself after he realized what had happened. He then called 911.

Deputy Brabble was brought to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital after he was taken to Chowan Hospital. He had emergency surgery on his hand at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.

Deputy Brabble knows some people are firing off criticism about what happened, especially since he is running for Chowan County Sheriff this November.

"Critics can use it like they want. It doesn't change who I am as a person. I certainly intend to still run for sheriff and you know anybody that wants to talk to me about it, I'll be glad to talk to them," he said.

And as the dust settles, he wants his mistake to be a lesson for others.

"Make sure that your firearms are unloaded when you begin to take them apart. That is the utmost importance."

Erik Prince, recently outed as a participant in a C.I.A. assassination program, has gained notoriety as head of the military-contracting juggernaut Blackwater, a company dogged by a grand-jury investigation, bribery accusations, and the voluntary-manslaughter trial of five ex-employees, set for next month. Lashing back at his critics, the wealthy former navy seal takes the author inside his operation in the U.S. and Afghanistan, revealing the role he’s been playing in America’s war on terror…

Please Click Here to Read the Full Article

From a former Marine with an extensive network throughout the military and security communities

I feel compelled to write and disseminate this, because when I often read open-source media accounts of battlefield exploits involving US Soldiers, they are often lacking.

Here are the facts, without revealing sensitive information. I feel compelled to write this because I heard some very fine, brave Americans fought for their very lives Saturday, 03 OCT 09. They fought magnificently. Eight of them made the Ultimate Sacrifice. I don't know their names, only their call signs. Though it may have been smaller in scale, and shorter in duration, their battle was no less heroic than the exploits of their ancestors, in places like LZ X-Ray or Fire Base Ripcord in Vietnam. I want people to know that there are still some GREAT Americans who serve in the US Army, fighting for Freedom, who will probably never be given the due they deserve. I don't know ALL the facts, only what I overheard on the satellite radio.

COP Keating was (past tense) located on low ground, near a river, surrounded by mountains - a poor place to have to defend to begin with. The village of Kamdesh was nearby, as was a mosque. About two platoons and a cavalry troop headquarters occupied the COP - Combat Outpost. If you Google COP Keating, you will find a Washington Times article describing the austere conditions there, written earlier this year.

I was on duty from 0600-1800 (6 a.m. until 6 p.m.) on Saturday, 03 OCT 09, and heard, first-hand, the events I am about to recount transpire. I took notes as the battle unfolded. Things were relatively quiet when I came on shift at 0600. Not too long afterward, I heard a call sign describing taking small arms fire at his position. (That in itself is not alarming - I hear that frequently because I hear satellite radio transmissions from all sorts of units who operate in Nangahar, Kunar, Laghman (where I am) and in Nuristan Provinces, where this happened.) The situation, then began to deteriorate. The Troop Commander - urgently - requested rotary wing gunships to support him. He was told they were 45 minutes away, and that he should use his 120 mm mortars. He replied that the mortar pit was pinned down, and that the could not employ his 120 mm mortars. I did not know until I saw an aerial photo later that day, after I got off shift, that the COP was located in a "bowl," surrounded on nearly all sides by high ground. The insurgents were shooting down into the mortar pit from above. The 120 mm mortars from OP Fritshe, a few kilometers away were able to help a little, but it was not enough. Not too long after the fight started, the Troop Commander said that he had a KIA, and several wounded.

Uh-Oh - now this is getting serious. Not too much longer after that, the Troop Commander, in a voice that was not panicked, but which had a sense of urgency said, "We've got people inside our wire!!!" He said that he had lost communications with some of his elements at different places on the COP. He had to abandon his Tactical Operations Center (TOC) and all the various means of redundant communications there (MIRC Chat, Blue Force Tracker, tactical FM radios, etc.) His only means of communication was the satellite radio he was using. He said he urgently needed air support. The number of KIA began to climb.

He kept asking about the helicopters - his higher headquarters said they were "30 minutes out..." He said that if he did not get help soon, they were going to be overrun. He had consolidated the soldiers he had, to include dead and wounded, in a tight perimeter on part of his COP. He advised that the Afghan National Army (ANA) side of the COP was completely overrun and was on fire. The insurgents had gotten into his perimeter where the ANA latrine bordered his perimeter, after they had overrun the ANA camp. His Entry Control Point (ECP) where some Afghan Security Guards (ASG) had been had been overrun. The ANP Police Checkpoint had been overrun and he was taking a heavy volume of fire from that. He was taking a lot of RPG fire from the mosque. His Ammunition Supply Point (ASP) was under insurgent control. He kept asking about the helicopters. He was told, "Passing Checkpoint 12..."

He said, "I'm telling you that if they don't get here f***in' soon, we're all going to f***in' die!!!" Shortly after that, his Squadron Commander came up on the radio and told him that he was going to be OK, that help was on the way. The SCO said that he needed to come up on FM and talk to the helicopters, who should be arriving very soon.

The Troop Commander said that the Harris was all he had at the moment, and asked that the Squadron relay. It was, obviously, a very anxious time. I was afraid that at any moment, the Troop commander would just stop transmitting, and that would mean that they were likely all dead and dying. Someone asked the Troop commander what his target priorities were, and he said that "anything outside the wire" was controlled by bad guys. He mentioned that he needed gun runs at a particular wall, and mentioned certain Target Reference Points (TRP's) such as "the putting green" and "the diving board." Finally, the helicopters arrived and began killing insurgents. It became clear, however, that it was such a target-rich environment that much more air support was needed. The helicopters gave the defenders enough breathing room to better position themselves, reload, etc. Under the umbrella of the gunships, the Troop Commander said that he was going to try to re-take some of his camp. The SCO calmly encouraged him to "fire and maneuver." As they regained some lost ground, the Troop Commander said that he was finding some of his unaccounted for soldiers, and that they were KIA. He gave their battle roster numbers. Things were looking better, but it was still a fierce fight. I could hear a cacophony of machine gun fire when the Troop Commander keyed that microphone to talk. The mortars were still pinned down, with one KIA and wounded in the mortar pit. After only a short time, gunships had to leave to rearm and refuel, heading to FOB Bostic. (FOB Bostic was hit with indirect fire, also, throughout the day.)

The weather in the high passes interfered with the helicopters. Close Air Support in the form of jets were on the way, and the Troop Commander was asked to provide Target Numbers, which he did. He was still being pressed on all sides, still taking a heavy volume of small arms fire and RPG's. He had regained some buildings, but had not been able to re-capture all his perimeter. He found at least one MBITR and was able to communicate with aircraft a little better. Once the jets arrived overhead, they began to drop bombs on the masses, the swarms of insurgents. Usually, the insurgents conduct a raid at dawn, do their damage, and flee. Not this day. I looked at my watch, and it was after 1000 and the insurgents were still attacking, even though it should have become clear to them after the close air arrived that they could no longer hope to completely overrun the camp. The Close Air was on station continuously after that, and as soon as one plane dropped its bombs and strafed, another came down to hit targets - some very close to camp. The mosque was hit by a Hellfire, and open source now reports that a high profile insurgent named Dost Mohammad was killed there. A target described as a "switchback" was bombed repeatedly and the insurgents seemed to simply re-occupy it only to be bombed out of it again. (Several pieces of weapons and equipment has since been found there.) The "North Face" was also repeatedly bombed and strafed.

A plan was developed to get reinforcements to COP Keating. Because it was still "too hot" to land helicopters, they were flown to OP Fritshe and had to walk to COP Keating. Asked about his ammunition (Class 5) at about 1300, the Troop commander said that he was "red" on 7.62 link and MK19 ammunition (40mm grenade machinegun). Not too long after that, he stated that he was "black" (supply exhausted) on 7.62, but still had a lot of .50 caliber. More KIA were found, and the Troop Commander said that they were missing their sensitive items (weapons, night vision, MBITR radios - things like that.) The KIA number rose to 5. There were constant updates on a particular wounded Soldier who had a broken leg and a crushed pelvis. They said that he had lost a lot of blood, but was on an IV, and was "hanging in there." The Troop Commander said that he had two ANA KIA, and several wounded, still with him. He said that a lot of the ANA - about 12 - had broken and run when the COP began to be overrun. (Some of their bodies were found nearby the next day, along with some ASG who were wounded.) The Troop Commander said that the insurgents had made off with the ANA's B-10 Rocket Launcher. Throughout the day, the air support targeted a B-10 launch site, but it was unclear if it was the same system that the ANA had lost of not.

The SCO got on the net and said that there was a plan to bring in a CH-47 Chinook as soon as it got dark, with attack helicopters overhead, and that they would bring in ammo and Soldiers and evacuate the wounded and dead. The SCO said that he would fly in, also. During the battle, the SCO always seemed calm and gave a lot of encouragement to the Troop Commander on the ground. He asked for updates (Situation Reports - "SITREPS") but he did not nag the Troop Commander for it every 5 minutes. He let the Troop Commander fight the fight, frequently asking him what he needed and asking him how he and his Soldiers were doing, offering encouragement, but not micro managing.

The fighting continued all day, even though it was not as intense as it had been in the early morning. As the relief column approached from OP Fritshe, it got into a brief fight, quickly killing two insurgents and capturing their ICOM radios and RPG's. Then, they continued on toward COP Keating. The fire that had completely leveled the ANA side of the COP was spreading from building to building, and was setting the COP on fire. The Troop Commander and his Soldiers had to evacuate their TOC again, because it caught on fire. Many of the barracks buildings caught on fire and burned, taking the Soldiers' possessions with them. Only one or two buildings were left by the time it was over. As night approached, the Troop Commander told someone (S-3? FSO?) that if the air cover were lost, and if they were attacked again, they were "done." The Troop Commander was assured that he would have adequate air support. The CSM came up on the net and asked the Troop Commander to try to expand his perimeter in order to try to get accountability of everyone. The Troop Commander said that he "just can't do it, I just don't have enough people. I have too many wounded." The CSM said that he understood, but that he was looking at a cold body on the Predator feed near the maintenance building, and thought that that might be the final missing soldier. (It was later determined that was not him.) The Troop Commander said that there were "a lot" of dead insurgents lying dead inside his perimeter, and he could be seeing one of those.

I went off shift at 1800. At that time, there were 6 US KIA, and one missing, later found and determined to be KIA. I do not know where the 8th KIA came from: either one of the wounded died, or earlier there was a mistake in regard to accountability.

The next day (Sunday, 4 OCT) when I came to work, I learned that they had found the unaccounted-for Soldier(s) and had made it through the night. During the late morning, the SCO came up on the net and briefed someone about the situation. He said that of five (5) HMMWV's, only one was still running. They had counted eight (8) RPG impacts on one HMMWV alone. He said that the HMMWV's were shot all to pieces. The camp Bobcat had a window shot out, but was still running, and they were still using it to move things.

There was a lot of UXO's (unexploded ordnance) that made the area hazardous, such as unexploded US mortar rounds that had been scattered, as well as AT-4's and Javelin's. Most of the Soldiers on the COP had lost all their possessions except for what they were wearing. A plan was already being developed to get them new TA-50, uniforms, boots, toiletries, etc. once they were extracted. There were a lot of sensitive items that needed to be lifted out, because they are serial numbered items that needed to be accounted for, but most everything was ruined. They discussed whether to insert engineers with a lot of explosive to blow everything up, or whether to call in air strikes after everyone was evacuated and try to destroy what was left that way. Even at this point, they were still taking the occasional odd, angry shot or rocket fire.

As I type this, I am still listening to the folks who are left at COP Keating, figuring out what to destroy, how best to destroy it (demo vs. aerial bombs or rockets) what to fly out, and making a plan on how best to get that done so they can abandon and close the COP.

Thursday, August 27, 2009 Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Somali pirates holding a hijacked ship off the coast of Somalia fired at a U.S. Navy helicopter as it made a surveillance flight over the vessel, the first such attack by pirates on an American military aircraft, the Navy said Thursday.

The helicopter, which is based on the USS Chancellorsville, was not hit and there were no injuries, the Navy said.

The copter was flying on Wednesday over a Taiwanese-flagged fishing vessel, the Win Far, which pirates seized along with its 30-member crew in April and were holding south of the Somali port town of Hobyo.

The helicopter was about 3,000 yards away from the ship when the pirates opened fire with "a large caliber weapon," the Navy said in a statement. The helicopter did not return fire, it said.

Since seizing the Win Far in the Gulf of Aden, the pirates have used the vessel as a base for attacking other commercial ships, including the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama. Four pirates seized the Maersk Alabama in April, taking its captain Richard Phillips hostage. He was held for five days in a sweltering lifeboat off the coast until U.S. Navy snipers shot three of his captors dead.

Lt. Nathan Christensen, a Bahrain-based spokesman for the Navy's 5th Fleet told the Associated Press that Wednesday's shooting marks the first time pirates shot at U.S. Navy helicopters conducting daily surveillance flights over areas where pirates anchor hijacked vessels and await ransom.

Christensen said four other merchant ships and 105 crewmembers are currently being held by pirates near the Win Far. They are anchored along Somalia's coast, between port towns of Hobyo and Eyl, Christensen said in a phone interview on Thursday.

Piracy has increased in the Gulf of Aden — a crucial shipping route in and out of the Suez Canal — and elsewhere off the coast of Somalia, fueling a more than doubling of pirate attacks in the first half of 2009, according to an international maritime watchdog. Somalia has had no effective central government since 1991, and the country's interim government is embroiled in a struggle with Islamist extremists with suspected Al Qaeda links.