Pentagon IG: 52 felons got access to military installations

posted at 2:41 pm on September 18, 2013 by Ed Morrissey

How did a man with a history of run-ins with military and civilian police, including admitting to “hearing voices,” get clearance to access a military facility? A new report from the Pentagon’s Inspector General — based on an audit completed before the Navy Yard shooting — suggests that this is not an isolated incident. The IG audit found 52 felons who had access to military installations, including drug dealers and accused child molesters, in an indictment of the Department of Defense’s background-check operations

A new report released by the Pentagon inspector general finds that felons have routine access to military bases throughout the nation.
According to CBS News, the report finds that 52 felons had access to military installations which put “military personnel dependents, civilians, and installations at an increased security risk.” The felons had access to these bases ranging from 62 to 1,035 days.
CBS News special correspondent John Miller reports that the felons who received access included “drug dealers” and “alleged child molesters.”
The Defense Department Inspector General found that one of the Navy’s security programs, which is more often used to review contractors who do not require security clearances, did not vet the workers well enough to eliminate the risks of allowing them access to Navy facilities.
The report states that the Navy Contractor Access Control System did “not effectively mitigate access control risks,” according to CBS News.

The most aggravating part of this report is John Miller’s revelation that checks aren’t including searches at NCIC or the national counterterrorism center that’s supposed to help us connect dots.  Those are the first places a background check should engage.  How many potential terror suspects might be working on these military installations? Do we know?  After all, infiltrating military bases would be one of the obvious strategies to attack the US on our home soil, even discounting Nidal Hasan’s Fort Hood massacre. If we aren’t checking those databases to protect what might be some of the biggest potential targets for terrorist attacks, what are they checking?