Navy exploring base security measures (Video)

Navy leaders are taking a hard look at security measures at their bases and installations in the wake of Monday’s shootings at the Navy’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. 

{mosads}Security measures in place at the Navy Yard in Southeast Washington, D.C., are comparable to measures in place at the service’s East Coast headquarters in Norfolk, Va., its West Coast base in San Diego and the Marine Corps headquarters in Quantico, Va.

All military members and civilians at the Navy Yard and elsewhere are subjected to “100 percent” identification checks and are required to pass through multiple checkpoints before coming on base property, according to a Navy official.

Aside from identification checks, military personnel are also required to show their Common Access Card, or CAC card, before going on base.

A CAC card is assigned to all service members, allowing them access to military-only facilities, the official added.

While an individual’s identification is always checked visually, those cards or other ID cards are only occasionally scanned via computer to verify their validity.

Forged military or civilian IDs are “always a concern,” according to the service official.

But the official noted that members of the service’s base security force are trained to spot falsified or doctored identification or CAC cards.

At least four people were killed and eight others were wounded in a shooting on Monday at the Naval Sea Systems Command Headquarters at the Navy Yard.

One gunman was killed at the scene, but Washington police said more shooters may have been involved in the crime.

Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy Lanier said there are “potentially” two shooters still at large.

Lanier described two men, one a white male and one a black male of about 50 years of age, both of whom were dressed in military fatigues and are wanted by the police for questioning.

However, the military-style uniforms reportedly worn by the shooters did not match official uniforms of Navy base security forces on base at the Navy Yard, according to the official.

Aside from Navy security personnel and members of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service based at the Navy Yard, no military or civilian individuals on base are authorized to carry firearms.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is receiving regular updates on the situation, DOD press secretary George Little said Monday.

“The situation remains fluid” as the DOD continues to “engage closely” with local and federal law enforcement on the scene, Little said.

The Pentagon is taking “appropriate action” to increase security measures at the Pentagon and other military facilities in the D.C. region, he added.

“All U.S. military facilities are taking prudent steps” in response to Monday’s shootings, Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren added.