[url]http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=32727[/url]

Axes against evil: 1 base's
                            plan to bludgeon terrorists
                            Army fort in Arizona to issue 'ax handles'
                            to guards as part of new security measures

                            Posted: May 23, 2003
                            1:00 a.m. Eastern

                            By Paul Sperry
                            © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

                            WASHINGTON -- As the Pentagon deploys more
                            Stinger missiles around its perimeter to guard against
                            new al-Qaida threats, an Army fort out West plans to
                            issue axes to beef up security.

                            Actually, axes isn't quite accurate. Some sentries at
                            Fort Huachuca in Arizona will only get the wooden
                            part of the ax -- sans blade.

                            "No firearms for sentry duty. They get ax handles!"
                            said a U.S. official, who finds the plan ridiculous.

                            Indeed, a post-wide memo, "Operations Order for
                            Force Protection Delta Procedures," advises: "Soldiers
                            ... will be issued a flashlight, batteries and an ax
                            handle to be used in case of an emergency."

                            The March 6 memo obtained by WorldNetDaily adds:
                            "Any detained personnel will be controlled by the
                            mere threat of being struck by a wooden ax handle."

                            Another memo, distributed March 17 under the
                            subject line, "FP Con Delta Reactive Procedures,"
                            details equipment for guards at the fort.

                            "Guards: Battle Dress Uniform (BDU), sleeves down,
                            Kevlar, LBE [load-bearing equipment], weather
                            appropriate over garment, and axe handle club," it
                            states.

                            A spokesman at Fort Belvoir here, where all guards
                            are issued firearms, chuckled at the ax-handle
                            contingency at Fort Huachuca. "I've never heard of
                            such a thing," Don Carr said.

                            A spokeswoman at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, also
                            was amused, saying guards there always carry
                            loaded weapons.

                            A spokesman at the Department of Army here was
                            equally incredulous.

                            "I'm not aware of any policy regarding ax handles,
                            and I have no idea why any post would have such a
                            policy," said Army Maj. Chris Conway.

                            He notes that fort security is the responsibility of
                            each fort commander. "It's not a cookie-cutter thing,"
                            Conway said.

                            Fort Huachuca, home to a U.S. Army Intelligence
                            Center unit, will not issue the ax handles unless there
                            is a major event of stateside terrorism, which would
                            trigger the security upgrade to Delta, the highest
                            warning level.

                            The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency here, however,
                            has raised its warning recommendation for all military
                            facilities to Delta, after al-Qaida leaders this week
                            issued threats against U.S. military installations.

                            "We have not changed our plans," said Fort
                            Huachuca spokeswoman Tanja Linton. "We're at
                            Bravo-plus."

                            In response to terror warnings, commanders can
                            raise force-protection levels at their bases at Alpha,
                            Bravo, Charlie or Delta.

                            The Pentagon is at Charlie.

Axe handles?   WTF?  Are they gonna ride around in the back of pickup trucks too?   Sounds like the base commanders name is bubba.  

OTOH -  A few terrorists with compound bows could take over the base :)   Sounds like a bad farside cartoon.

I am [b]SO[/b] not surprised.

Once upon a time, in a far away land, I was on a guard detail for a ammo point. Everyone on the detail was given a long briefing on the "Authorized Use of Deadly Force" and made to sign a form(in triplicate) that we had received the briefing and understood it.
As the Sgt of the Guard was getting ready to leave, I asked him about ammo. His reply?
"If you need ammo, come find me"[xx(]

echo6

I thought is was like instead of prison they would sell tickets for a wack or 2 at a terrorist, kind of like taking a sludge hammer to the car at the carneval.

Currently spending some quality time in the MI world...trust me, you don't want most of these fuckers to have loaded weapons..they're just gonna hurt themselves or some innocent bystander.

Wouldn't Frying Pans work better?

[img]http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00005Q5HW.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg[/img]

Personally, I like the ax handles, in conjunction with loaded firearms though.
Brandishing a firearm will get more respect than an ax handle, but the ax handles will be great if the terrorist resist.  After detaining the alleged terrorist, you can escort him in back of some building along the way to the guard house. Suddenly he starts to resist!  The resistance might not warrent putting one between the eyes, but a sufficient beating by four or five soldiers would do.
"So, you like flying planes into skyscrapers?"
SMACK WACK POW THUD!
"EEEIIIAAAHHH!  I no fly plane!"
CRACK PUMMEL LOUD NOISE TINKLE!
"Yeah, but you wanted too!"
POUND HAMMER CLANG CRASH!

Bilster

LMAO!  I love that movie.

If the general principle of it isn't bad enough, they are talking about condition Delta which means that there is specific, credible evidence that an attack will occur within 24 hours.  That's  a pretty no-shit warning, the gold standard of intel and all you get is axe handles.  Maybe all the rifles are in Iraq - or at maybe just all the folks qualified to use them.