VIDEO: Following Death of Alabama Native at NAS Pensacola, Senator Jones Calls for Navy Secretary Nominee to Commit to Increased Safety Measures for Service Members
Press Release
Senator Doug Jones (D-Ala.) today called on two nominees to U.S. Navy leadership roles to commit to taking steps to increase security for U.S. service members on military bases, following a terrorist attack on Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola last December. In the shooting, Enterprise, Ala. native Joshua Kaleb Watson was among three who were killed and eight injured. Watson was an accomplished graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and Enterprise High School.
"Kaleb was the officer on deck that morning. He was one of the first people the shooter encountered and although he was shot five times, he managed to make his way out to flag down first responders and give an accurate description of the shooter," said Senator Jones. "I've met with Kaleb's father and brother and have made a commitment to work with them to try to get to the bottom of what happened. I think there are a number of instances that could have saved Kaleb's life and perhaps others. The GAO issued a report in 2015 concerning recommendations on military bases and I'm not quite sure that any of that has been followed at this point. We've not seen any follow up."
Senator Jones continued, "I have just a simple question for both you, Ambassador Braithwaite, and [Mr.] Anderson: are you committed to looking at those reports, looking at those recommendations to try to see if there are things we can feasibly do to prevent the needless killing of men and women in service? Not only of the military, but also the potential civilians that are on these bases as well?"
"Anybody who goes aboard any military installation has to show an ID card and it always gives you a sense of security when you do that, whether you come into this building or you come into the Pentagon or any of our military facilities around the world. So I pledge to you, senator, that I will look into this," said Amb. Kenneth Braithwaite, nominee for Secretary of the Navy, in response to Senator Jones' question.
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