PREPARED

More U.S. Troops Can Be Armed Stateside

After attack in Chattanooga.

More U.S. troops will be allowed to be armed stateside after five service members were killed in a mass shooting in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Defense Secretary Ash Carter outlined new security measures, including the arming of troops, in a memo released Thursday. “This incident and the ongoing threat underscore the need for DoD to revise its force protection and security policies, programs, and procedures, particularly for off-installation DoD facilities,” Carter wrote. Commanders and civilian directors will be allowed to arm “qualified DoD personnel for security, law enforcement, and counterintelligence duties,” but those not involved in law enforcement may also be armed “based on the threat and the immediate need to protect DoD assets and lives.”