guards was: PDP1 3528

Lars Poulsen (impulse news)

That was my impression on hearing the story. If you need that level of security, you don't reprimand the guard for doing what he was *supposed* to do. If you don't want the guard doing that, then hire a 75-year old woman to wave people through the gate, or just fire the guards and leave the gate open.

That reminds me of a story on Adak, Alaska (out in the Aleutians, which have some of the most variable, atrocious weather in the world). A fourth-grade teacher had her clbutt on some sort of nature field trip in the tundra. The weather turned foul with a heavy fog rolling in and they got lost (very easy to do there). They wandered well away from where they should have been and got fairly close to the depot where nuclear depth charges for the P-3 Orion sub-hunters were stored (stopping along the road anywhere near there was forbidden, as well as all photography). Before they knew it, the teacher and kids were surrounded by Marines, and were face down on the ground with loaded guns pointed at them until higher officers arrived to sort things out, and other Marines were called out just in case it was some kind of diversion. Some people thought that was silly and extreme, but considering what was involved (a nuke site) it was entirely proper and the Marines did *exactly* what they were supposed to do, and very professionally, too. If you need security, don't half-butt it and don't cripple it or you're going to be nailed sooner or later. If you don't need it, then don't waste people's time and money *pretending* you have it.

--Larry