Thursday, June 17, 2010

Not blown up...yet

Anthony Todd Saxon
aka Jackass of the Week


This dude was here on Fort Gordon, Monday June 7th, and tried to blow someone or something up!!! Of course no one HERE said anything about it, but the following article was in the online copy of the Army Times. The article says that "he couldn't have done any serious damage", however I beg to disagree. A LAND MINE and SEVERAL GRENADES can cause serious damage people!!! All I could think about was Fort Hood, and the carnage that happened there. Something needs to be done about the security of our military bases!!!! It's been privatized here, like our housing, and most civilians don't "get it"!!!!

FORT GORDON, Ga. — A former national guardsman pretending to be an active-duty soldier convinced an officer to give him a sophisticated laser sight for military rifles before he was caught hours later on the base with a land mine, several grenades and night vision devices, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Federal prosecutors said in a criminal complaint that Anthony Todd Saxon, 34, falsely pretended to be an Army master sergeant on Tuesday and sought to steal the infrared laser targeting sight. He was expected to appear in federal court later Wednesday.

Saxon was wearing a full combat uniform, including rank and insignia, when he was stopped at Fort Gordon by military police and questioned about his activities, according to the complaint. After Saxon gave them consent to search his vehicle, authorities said they found several grenades and the land mine, among other equipment.

According to the complaint, Saxon told investigators he was able to obtain the laser sight by telling a captain in the base’s military police office that he was a master sergeant in the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division and that he needed it to train a soldier.

He told investigators he was able to obtain the device after signing a receipt, according to the court documents. He also said he was a member of the Army National Guard between 1993 and 1995, but was medically discharged for heart problems.

Florida National Guard spokeswoman Crystal McNairy said that Saxon joined the Guard in 1993 and left with an honorable discharge in 1994. She said his rank was private 1st class, but she would not provide any other details about his service.

Fort Gordon spokesman Buz Yarnell said Saxon was stopped on the Army post because his car matched the description of a vehicle suspected in an earlier theft of military equipment from the post in April. Yarnell would not say what had been stolen.

Yarnell said the grenades, called “flash bangs,” use blinding light and loud noise to stun people but don’t explode into lethal shrapnel.

“He couldn’t have done any serious damage,” said Yarnell, who would not say whether the explosives were detonated.

He said there’s no suspected connection between Saxon and an AWOL serviceman arrested Monday in Florida after he tried to enter MacDill Air Force Base with weapons and ammunition in his vehicle. But Yarnell said military authorities still don’t know what Saxon was doing on Fort Gordon.

Yarnell also didn’t know if Saxon used a military ID, either fake or real, to get onto the base. Fort Gordon, near Augusta, is home to the Army Signal Corps, which is in charge of the service’s global communication and information systems. He said the post, which is also home to the Eisenhower Army Medical Center, typically allows civilians to enter if they show some form of identification.

“Anybody can get on Fort Gordon with a driver’s license,” Yarnell said. “It’s open to the public, basically.”

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I can't believe they published that last line. Hello??? Terrorists? Come on in!!! Sadly, it's 100% accurate.

22 comments:

Unknown said...

OMG! How scary...and I always thought military bases were the safest places to be!

I love this country and all that, but what is going on?!

Ann On and On... said...

Yup...he should get the Jackass of the week. He even beat out the police officer in Seattle. (I'm working on my post right now...)

Mrs. M said...

YIKES!! Glad nobody got hurt!

Deanna said...

I always thought military bases were high security. Totally amazing!!!!

LindyLouMac said...

Oh my, bet you are glad to be out of there soon!

A.Marie said...

Now THAT is very scary!!! There needs to be better security for our military personnel and their families!

Mary said...

unfortunately Army posts don't seem to have good security. I've found that Air Fields have the best compliance to security regulations. And, all the privitization of the military isn't always a good thing.

Unknown said...

You'd think they'd learn! What the hell? and sadly that is true here because Hood is so big and when thy have public things all you need is a license. I can't believe they'd advertise that.

A.Marie said...

Jeannie: I forgot to tell you to come on over to my blog and enter my yummy giveaway! Also, if you post something about it on your blog, you'll get an extra entry! :)

Intense Guy said...

In defence of the security dudes, they did catch him, even if it was a case of a "bit late".

I can't think of any "legitimate" uses for a landmine. I'd like to know where and how it got his hands on one of those!

Melissa B. said...

Interesting take on security down there. It's virtually impossible for non-service personnel to get on to any DC-area base. Remind me to tell you the story about one of my girls and how she accidentally ended up at Fort Belvoir...

Kristina P. said...

Holy crap! That is so scary.

The Blonde Duck said...

That's terrifying.

Anonymous said...

It is so sad how many crazies are out there! It makes me feel safe living on post, but it seems like we are hearing more and more about cases like this. Scary!

Have a good day!

Amy said...

Um hello, people with Drivers' Licenses are not prone to being nutjobs?? He even looks like a quack! Scary world we live in!

CB said...

That is some crazy crap!
That last line is terrifying!! I would think military bases would have super security measures. Yikes something needs to change!!

Janiece said...

WOW...
That is just scary!
I agree our military bases need to be the safest places around!
SCARY

AliceKay said...

Yeah, that's pretty scary. I saw a report on the news last night about Fort Gordon, and thought of you immediately.

That last line should have been removed from the report, but it seems our military's safety isn't of much concern to a lot of people. It's like the TV reporters who "investigate" certain aspects of warfare and then broadcast it to the world...and all of our enemies out there waiting to pounce on that info. Makes no sense.

Liz Mays said...

He really has those crazy eyes. Scary! I can't believe they published that last line either. Idiocy!

Anonymous said...

OMG!!! I agree security needs to really tighten up there and everywhere it seems, that is a situation that could have been really really bad for innocent people.

Mimi said...

How scary. Why in the hell would they print that last line? It makes no sense.

Hopefully security will be safer on a foreign base.

Annie said...

OMG, how scarry...