Shots fired at US Air Force base in England

[Sylvain]

RAF Mildenhall: Shots fired in security alert at US base - BBC News

Base on lockdown.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

LONDON (AP) - Police: American service members fired shots before man was detained at English based used by U.S. Air Force

 

[Sylvain]

Shots were fired by US personnel before the man was detained at RAF Mildenhall.
He suffered cuts and bruises and is now in the custody of Suffolk Police.

Shots fired but the man wasn't shot? Warning shots maybe?

 

[Sylvain]

[FONT=&amp]UPDATE: BBC told that an incident at RAF [/FONT][FONT=&amp]used by the US Airforce - involved an individual in a vehicle trying to force his way through a checkpoint. The individual has been arrested and the incident is now over with an individual in custody of Suffolk Police.[/FONT]

 

[Sylvain]

[FONT=&quot]A[/FONT][FONT=&quot] defence source said opening fire in such a situation was standard practice for the personnel guarding a base.
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]The source said: “If you enter a military base forcibly you would expect an armed response.”[/FONT]

Duh! Even in the UK.

 

[OurDee]

Good possibility that they shot to disable the vehicle rather than kill information. While in England we were told that you can't get information out of a dead saboteur. I worked out of RAF Lakenheath in the early 80s. My avatar is the patch we were not allowed to wear. SR71s used to fly out of RAF Mildenhall back then.

 

[Sylvain]

Good possibility that they shot to disable the vehicle rather than kill information. While in England we were told that you can't get information out of a dead saboteur. I worked out of RAF Lakenheath in the early 80s. My avatar is the patch we were not allowed to wear. SR71s used to fly out of RAF Mildenhall back then.

Good point.

 

[Alamo]

Naturally the article focuses on an "investigation" and "conversation between the Pentagon and the (UK) Ministry of Defence" about why shots were fired.


How about a discussion as to why if this is true:

That said, in the past few years security has been stepped up at the US base, which now has a much tighter perimeter.

You can't just drive into the base, you have to go through what's called the '"shed" - your car is checked and you have to go through lots of tight security measures.​

Then this became true:

The vehicle was brought to a halt close to a US plane, an Osprey, and it was not thought there was "any significant damage" to the vehicle or the aircraft, Supt Warner said. ​

I should think there should be significant damage to the vehicle at that point, as in "authorities are trying to find enough pieces of the intruder to identify him."

I understand the desirability of questioning the intruder, but first, protect the personnel and the assets.

But no.

 

[KellyinAvon]

I was thinking entry gate, but the story said "checkpoint". That sounds a lot more like entering into a controlled area (flightline) than a gate to enter the base itself. That would explain the "got close to an Osprey" part. 352d Special Operations Group is at Mildenhall, with the MH-53s being retired in the USAF Ospreys will be flying there.

 

[OurDee]

It depends on the risk level of the asset. It is a big chess game. Surrender a pawn for a rook. We kept an eye on the people that sat at the end of our runways writing down tail numbers of everything coming in or going out. Some of them were there to monitor how our planes were loaded. Wrong thing on a wing could be an act of war back then. We knew how to bypass them. From what I am seeing it is a gentler world now days. I don't want to second guess any of it. Could have been some bloke sore about loosing his bird.

 

[Sylvain]

I was thinking entry gate, but the story said "checkpoint". That sounds a lot more like entering into a controlled area (flightline) than a gate to enter the base itself. That would explain the "got close to an Osprey" part. 352d Special Operations Group is at Mildenhall, with the MH-53s being retired in the USAF Ospreys will be flying there.

I believe journalists call any gate a "checkpoint".

[FONT=&quot]A US Airforce base in Suffolk suffered a major security breach today when a driver forced his way through the main security checkpoint.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]American military guards opened fire as the car travelled a significant way inside RAF Mildenhall after passing through a hail of bullets - stopping just metres short of a military aircraft, the Daily Telegraph understands.[/FONT]

Early today the reports made it sound like the intruder was stopped and arrested at the main gate while trying to enter the base.
Now they are saying he breached the main gate and drove inside the base before getting stopped.