COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Counter-Recruitment: General
Recruiters 'vigilant' after bombing
Seamus O'Connor, AirForce Times
Mar 7, 2008
Air Force recruiters continued business as usual Thursday after abomb attack at a New York City Army recruiting station.
While Army recruiters were put on heightened alert, no special
measures were in place at Air Force recruiting stations.
"Our Air Force recruiters remain vigilant," said Lt. Col. Sean
McKenna, spokesman for Air Force Recruiting Services, "and they
continue to work with law enforcement in their areas to ensure that
force protection measures are in place."
A crude bomb shattered a window and a glass door at an Army
recruiting station in Times Square early Thursday morning, the
Associated Press reported. A private security camera captured footage
of a cyclist stopping at the station around 3:40 a.m. and then riding
away shortly before an explosion, the report said.
Though there have been instances of graffiti and recruiters' tires
being slashed in the past few years, there have been no bombings at
Air Force recruiting stations, McKenna said.
"Several recruiting areas have mentioned that local law enforcement
have made it a priority to be extra careful watching their recruiting
stations today," he said.
No one was hurt in the blast, which caused minor damage to the
landmark recruiting center.
Army recruiters assigned to the Time Square station were not present
when the blast happened, nor were any prospective recruits, a
Training and Doctrine Command press release stated.
Meanwhile, New York police are investigating a cyclist that rode up
to the station, got off his bike and then pedaled away just before
the bomb was detonated at about 3:40 a.m.
"While the incident is being investigated, we have directed all Army
recruiting stations to assume a higher level of awareness," the release states.
The military's 1,600 recruiting stations nationwide were alerted to
the New York incident and advised to use extra caution, said Douglas
Smith, spokesman for the Army recruiting command.
Recruiters assigned to the Time Square station will work temporarily
out of their Union Square office, said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman.
Army officials maintain that the incident will not affect recruiting
efforts in New York.
The recruiting center has drawn sporadic protests for many years,
including in October 2005, when a group who call themselves the
Granny Peace Brigade rallied there against the Iraq war. Eighteen
activists, most of them grandmothers in their 80s and 90s, were later
acquitted of disorderly conduct. The brigade issued a statement
Thursday deploring the bombing.
The station was renovated in 1999 to better fit into the flashy
ambiance of Times Square, using neon tubing to give the glass and
steel office a patriotic American flag motif. For a half century, the
station was the armed forces' busiest recruiting center. It has set
national records for enlistment, averaging about 10,000 volunteers a year.
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