Cracks and fissures: gang activity inside the military

Posted By Thomas E. Ricks Friday, January 23, 2009 - 5:15 PM Share

The Air Force is court-martialing one of its staff sergeants for the beating death of an Army soldier during an initiation into the Gangster Disciples gang at a U.S. base in Germany in July 2005. Gang activity inside the military is one of the warning signs of deteriorating discipline.

Meanwhile, the Marine Corps is ordering its Camp Pendleton Marines not to party in Tijuana. This resonates with me -- my son recently moved out of Mexico because of the violence in its capital, which included being robbed at gunpoint on the street.

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WALKING WOUNDED

1:15 AM ET

January 24, 2009

Gangs with service tattoos

I'd like to hear more on the subject of a new service-gang connection.

The Right-fright underground has long been urging white über-youth to get arms training and combat experience, while the war is on, before their tatoos become too objectionable. Their long war target is ZOG; radical Islam is just live target practice. The slide in recruiting standards since 2004 has provided an opening for some that might have been screened out before

My understanding is that the services cleaned up a lot, after McVeigh-Nichols' War on Tulsa revealed a nasty side to comraderie in arms. A particular neofascist nexus was noted at Ft. Lewis, and at Ft. Carson, in the 90's. We hoped it was just the skinhead-Clintonista zeitgeist.

I have great respect for the the Corps and marines, but Oceanside (outside Pendleton) has always been a place to keep an eye peeled for bullet proof young men on kamikaze ninja bikes. The S. side of Colo. Springs is a bit like Oceanside, a military town. With some bad actors hanging around after discharge, there have been incidents and casualties that have the community on edge recently.

The social sequala of war isn't new. The James-Dalton gang was wrapped around Confederate irregulars. A Korean war-vet friend used to tell me of his battle-buddy, who bragged on how easily his combat skills would dominat the tough guys in his Chicago neighborhood. In my day, heroin came home in body bags, with senior NCO's running the scam. The DC Sniper showed how much havoc even one twisted warrior can wreak today.

Mostly war angst stays in the family, or ends up in the bar. We're all most prone to hurt those closest. But it's statistically sobering to me that three family members, from my parents and children's generations, share near-fatal encounters with random servicemen. None of us has ever met a terrorist here in America.

CARTERFSMITH

3:36 PM ET

January 24, 2009

Cracks and fissures: gang activity inside the military

I think gang activity inside the military is one of the warning signs that the military is a microcosm of society, and that some gang members enter the service even if there are provisions to keep them out. Though difficult to explain, there are people with dual allegiance (gang + military) serving our country. This appears similar to the dual allegiance of football players (sport + team), autoworkers (union + employer), and professors/researchers (academic discipline + employing university).

Most gang members are capable of discipline -- have learned more about it from the gang than the military -- and they can play the game with the best of them. The problem lies in whether we can agree that their mere presence and continued existence is a discipline problem. Should we treat gang membership like membership in a criminal organization or like membership in a fraternity?

Carter

http://gangfighters.blogspot.com/2008/08/divided-loyalty-for-military-gang.html