"National Guard Carried Unloaded Guns At Airports"

Sunday, May 26, 2002

Airport Guards Carried Unloaded Guns


PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- National Guard troops patrolling Pennsylvania airports
for more than seven months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were
carrying unloaded weapons, a newspaper reported Sunday.

At 16 airports across the state, the troops were banned from patrolling with
loaded weapons, according to guardsmen interviewed by The Philadelphia
Inquirer for Sunday editions.

Instead, the guardsmen carried loaded magazines on their belts, the paper
said.

``I don't mind being in harm's way, but let me react,'' said Staff Sgt. Bill
Lawrence, 39, who was stationed at Philadelphia International Airport until
the guardsmen left May 10.

With the seconds it would take to remove the magazine from their belt and
insert it into the pistol, ``we couldn't protect ourselves,'' Lawrence said.

The Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs declined
comment on whether the state's National Guard troops carried loaded or
unloaded weapons.

``We are not going to confirm specific rules of engagement because our
soldiers could be back in the airports,'' spokesman John Maietta said.

But Lawrence and three other guardsmen, one of whom asked that his name not
be used, talked to the paper about the airport mission.

They emphasized that none of the soldiers at the Philadelphia airport ever
needed to pull their weapons -- but if National Guard troops are sent to
patrol airports again, they do not want the guardsmen to be in the same
position.

``It seemed like (National Guard officials) were betting nothing would
happen,'' said Staff Sgt. Rich Scaricaciottoli. ``But I wouldn't take that
as a precedent for what's going to happen next time.''

When they questioned their command, the response was, ``We don't want any
John Waynes,'' the paper said. But, Lawrence said, ``the people who made
these decisions about rules of engagement didn't have to stand at the
checkpoints.''

In New York, a National Guard spokesman confirmed that the M-16 rifles
carried by soldiers there also had no bullets in them.

``If need be, and thankfully there was no cause for this, the weapon could
have been rapidly loaded,'' said Scott Sandman, a spokesman for the New York
division of Military and Naval Affairs.

Maietta and a U.S. Department of Defense spokesman emphasized that the
Federal Aviation Administration, not the National Guard, was in charge of
providing airport security.

In addition, working alongside guardsmen in each state were professionally
trained law-enforcement officers with loaded weapons, state troopers and
airport police in Philadelphia and Port Authority police in New York,
officials said.

On Sept. 27, President Bush asked all governors to deploy National Guard
troops to airports within their states, with salaries paid by the federal
government.

The paper surveyed 19 states with the nation's busiest airports. Besides
Pennsylvania and New York, a dozen states said their soldiers carried loaded
weapons, and seven declined comment.

In Georgia, National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Jim Driscoll ridiculed the
idea of his state's soldiers carrying unloaded weapons.

``We're not like Barney Fife, who carries one bullet in our pocket. The gun
is only effective if you can use it,'' he said.

``It would defeat the purpose of putting them there,'' agreed Maj. Drew
Sullings, spokesman for Maryland's National Guard. ``What if something
happened and they needed to defend people, to defend themselves?''

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