September 17, 2001
The recent events in Washington and New York have awakened not only the United States, but the rest of the civilized world to the threat of trans-national terrorism. While the toll is yet to be fully tallied, both the human and the financial losses in the World Trade Center destruction alone have spread far beyond the borders of this country. Early figures reveal that over 100 British citizens were killed with Americans, and insurance and other losses of many millions of dollars have spread far beyond our borders. We are not alone in our losses.
While it’s possible that the plotters will be gathered and surrendered by the countries in which they are hiding, it’s more likely that armed hostilities will be required to root them out and destroy their sanctuaries. At ArmaLite, we are shifting our plans and programs to support the field forces that we expect will have to carry the fight to the hiding places of our opponents.
This certainly may mean disruptions in commercial supplies from ArmaLite. ArmaLite has had several projects in process for the last several years, and we are now shifting resources from commercial programs to allow increased focus on the military ones.
In the end, we hope that the nations of the civilized world create the political, legal, military, and intelligence structures needed to counter the forces that hope to pass invisibly through and between those nations.
My time in the military ended with my retirement in March of this year. While I would be proud to return to active duty if needed, I believe that I can accomplish more here. Today, the entire ArmaLite staff and I stand ready to support our field forces with the logistic support they require and deserve.
I wish to extend my deepest sympathies to all of the families who have lost loved ones in the first blasts of this first war of the 21st Century, and to all of the families who are destined to lose others as our struggle progresses.
Sincerely,
MARK A. WESTROM
LTC, USAR (Ret.)
President
(This note will be posted to the ArmaLite and AR-10 Forums)