Officials: Lejeune to assess security

Following a deadly shooting attack at a Texas Army post and a homicide Friday morning aboard Camp Lejeune, officials on base say they will monitor the incidents and assess what they mean for security procedures.

Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a psychiatrist at Fort Hood in Texas, is accused of killing 13 and wounding more than 30 more in a shooting Thursday afternoon. Roughly 12 hours later, Camp Lejeune officials discovered the body of a male Marine and are now holding a fellow Marine, Pvt. Jonathan Law, in custody accused of causing his death.

 While no link between the incidents has been found and the motives behind both crimes remain a matter of speculation, Camp Lejeune Commanding Officer Col. Richard P. Flatau, Jr. said in a statement Thursday that officials would continue to monitor information developing from Fort Hood, and to assess its meaning for the base.

Local veteran Dan Joy, who retired in Jacksonville after 21 years in the Marine Corps, said he believed that new challenges — both mental and physical — exist for troops now than when he served.

“Training in the Navy and the Marine Corps, the overall training is intensified,” Joy said. “We’re fighting a different war, there’s a different type of mentality out there.”

In 2007, then-commander of Camp Lejeune Col. Adele Hodges decided to close off the N.C. 172 public entry to the base as a security precaution.

“While we all know the vast majority of commuters are indeed ‘just passing through,’ it only takes one determined terrorist bent on destruction to cause untold harm to this most precious national asset. As one whose primary responsibility is to preserve and protect Camp Lejeune and its residents, I am simply unwilling to take that chance,” she wrote in a letter to The Daily News.

Yet when the threat comes from within, sometimes safety comes from self-policing.

This fall, the Camp Lejeune Naval Hospital opened two renovated facilities largely dedicated to treating post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse rehabilitation.

In an earlier interview, the hospital’s director of Mental Health, Cmdr. Robert T. O’Byrne, said that many service members who ignore the signs of mental trauma may end up in career-ending incidents, while those who seek help can curtail problems without duty limitation.

“We firmly believe that mental health can help an individual get better in such a way that it doesn’t affect their career,” he said.

According to statements from base officials, Law was deployed to Iraq from August 2007 to March 2008. Experts have speculated that Hasan may have suffered “compassion fatigue” — a result of working day-to-day with others suffering from various kinds of trauma.

O’Byrne said that providing adequate support for caregivers was vital in maintaining healthy interactions.

“They see a lot of trauma, but they have to be strong for the people they’re caring for,” he said.

Meanwhile, Joy said he believed that the base should continue to be rigorous with security, even taking additional measures if deemed necessary.

Of the attack at Ft. Hood, he said, “It could happen at Camp Lejeune. It could happen anywhere.

“The security of the personnel and the integrity of the perimeter needs to be enforced for incidents like this,” he said. “If you have to drive a little further, that’s tough beans.”

Contact Hope Hodge at 910-219-8453 or hhodge@freedomenc.com.