According to a recent report unclassified by the National Gang Intelligence Center, there is an increasing threat being posed against national security and military operations.
Inside the report, it stated that major U.S gangs such as the Bloods, Crips, Black Disciples, Gangster Disciples, Hells Angels, Latin Kings, The 18th Street Gang, Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), Mexican Mafia, Nortenos, Surenos, Vice Lords, and various white supremacist groups have been documented as having suspected members inside domestic and international military bases.The suspected gang members are mostly found at junior ranks and in either the Army Reserves, US Army, or the National Guard.
In May 2005 an Army recruit and suspected Crip member was assigned to the US Army Finance Battalion where he engaged in drug distribution. He was eventually discharged from the Army for misconduct. This reported incident displays possible motivation. Other possible motives are the weapons they will receive while in the service, learn first aid and medic skills, or to take advantage of opportunities to commit crimes. Also, according to the report, "…soldiers—including gang members—are currently being taught urban warfare for combat in Iraq, including how to encounter hostile gunfire." This new urban terrain fighting may be found to be very useful against rival gangs.
Gang members may also be using the military as a new recruiting strategy. As reported in the in the released document: “According to an August 2006 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, military recruiter violations increased 50 percent from 2004 to 2005. The report concluded that military recruiters under pressure to meet recruiting goals have engaged in criminal violations such as overly aggressive recruiting tactics and document falsification. The Army, Navy, and Air Force measure recruiter performance by the number of recruits who enlist rather than the number who actually complete basic training, which may encourage recruiter violations.”
Rival gangs have even been battling each other inside military compounds the report details. “In August 2005 three soldiers who were suspected gang members stationed at Fort Wainwright Army Installation, Alaska, were indicted on second-degree murder charges for their involvement in the gang-related shooting death of a Crip member at a local nightclub off-post near Fairbanks, Alaska. According to open-source reporting, they were acquitted in March 2006.” Also “According to open-source reporting, in August 2006 a former Marine and Blood member stationed at the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Camp Pendleton, California, was convicted of killing a rival gang member and wounding another in an October 2005 gang-related shooting in La Mesa, California.” Gang members have also been reported attacking law enforcement. “According to Fort Lewis Department of the Army Police (FLDAP) and Lakewood Police Department, in August 2005 a naval chaplain’s assistant and United Blood Nation (UBN) member from Bremerton Naval Station attempted to kill a state prison corrections officer in a contract killing in Lakewood, Washington.”
This report comes with the recent accounts of rape and murders that the U.S army has been committing in Iraq and Afghanistan. Before the U.S turns into a reckless and violent band of barbarians I insist that they start screening troops to see if they are mentally fit to be given a M-16 machine gun.
Now I am not saying that all U.S troops are thugs, as many of them are doing very brave and courageous activities that I would certainly not want to do. But it is almost an epidemic in how many criminals are joining the army. For the whole report-http://stripes.com/07/feb07/gangs/ncis_gangs.pdf
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