Congressman Turner requests details from DoD Inspector General regarding audit on Naval Installation Security

Washington, D.C. – Ohio Congressman Mike Turner, chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces, has written to Acting Inspector General Lynne Halbrooks to request further information regarding the ongoing “Audit of the Navy Commercial Access Control System.” 

The goal of the audit which began in September 2012 is “to determine whether the Navy Commercial Access Control System (NCACS) is mitigating access control risks to Navy installations,” according to a October 2012 memorandum from the Department of Defense.

Turner's request follows the deadly attack at the Washington Navy Yard Monday, Sept. 16 that was allegedly committed by Aaron Alexis, 34, a former Navy reservist.

According to reports, Alexis used a valid pass to get onto the military installation and started firing inside a building, killing at least 12 people before he was shot and killed in a gun battle with police.

“Given the disturbing events of Monday, I am highly concerned that the access control systems at our nation’s military installations have serious security flaws," Turner said.

"It is my understanding the IG report indicates the Navy may have implemented an unproven system in order to cut costs. I also learned that potentially numerous felons may have been able to gain unrestricted access to several military installations across the country due to the insufficient background checks, increasing the risk to our military personnel and civilian employees.”

Monday's shooting was the deadliest on a military installation in the U.S. since the 2009 Fort Hood, Texas attacks.

Flags lowered to half-staff

• Meanwhile, President Obama has issued the following proclamation, ordering flags to be flown at half-staff.

As a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence perpetrated on September 16, 2013, at the Washington Navy Yard, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, September 20, 2013. I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this sixteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand thirteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-eighth.