Blake Hall
Due to a growing concern of jihadist threat, the Pentagon has raised the security level for all United States military bases.
According to CNN, the installations are now at “Force Protection Bravo”, which is defined by the Department of Defense as an “increased and predictable threat of terrorism”. A government official admitted that the bases have not been at this level since the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
This news comes on the heels of FBI Director James Comey announcing that there are thousands of ISIS (or ISIL) followers online in the U.S.
More from CNN:
“We have a general concern, obviously, that ISIL is focusing on the uniformed military and law enforcement,” Comey told reporters Thursday.
The order was signed by Admiral William Gortney, head of the command.
“We have the same concern about the potential threat posed by violent homegrown extremists,” said Captain Jeff Davis, spokesman for the U.S. Northern Command which oversees all U.S. military installations in the continental U.S.
“We are doing this as a prudent measure due to a lot of things in the news lately,” Davis said. “While this change is not tied to a specific credible threat, recent events have led us to recognize the need to take prudent steps to ensure that our security measures can be increased quickly.”
The change could mean more checks of vehicles entering bases, and 100% identity checks of all personnel. Davis emphasized “this is the new normal that we are going to have increased vigilance and force protection. We seek to be unpredictable.”