The agency that protects the Pentagon is warning that recent threats against U.S. troops by ISIS call for staff vigilance, including varying routes to work, limiting social-media activity, and hiding Defense Department IDs while in public. The caution comes from the Pentagon Force Protection Agency, a civilian-run organization in the Defense Department responsible for protecting occupants and visitors at the Pentagon and other facilities. It was issued after terrorism-related incidents in Canada that left two Canadian soldiers dead. The agency noted that recent ISIS-linked plots have targeted public gatherings, government entities, religious facilities, and “mass-transit nodes” and said attacks in the U.S. would likely involve “edged weapons,” small arms, or IEDs, and “could be perpetrated with little or no advance warning.”
The Department of Homeland Security this week ordered extra security measures for almost 10,000 federal buildings in Washington, D.C. and across the country, citing continued calls for “attacks on the homeland and elsewhere.” The Air Force also has asked troops to keep a low profile and be careful using social media.