Dangerous Situation
Military-trained gang members also present an emerging threat to law enforcement officers patrolling the streets of US cities. Both current and former gang-affiliated soldiers transfer their acquired military training and knowledge back to the community and employ them against law enforcement officers, who are typically not trained to engage gangsters with military expertise. Gang members in the military are commonly assigned to military support units where they have access to weapons and explosives. Military personnel may steal items by improperly documenting supply orders or by falsifying paperwork. Law enforcement officials throughout the United States have recovered military-issued weapons and explosives-such as machine guns and grenades-from criminals and gang members while conducting search warrants and routine traffic stops.
- In June 2006 an incarcerated US Army soldier and active gang member identified 60 to 70 gang-affiliated military personnel in his unit allegedly involved in the theft and sale of military equipment and weapons. The solider reported that many of the military personnel in charge of ammunition and grenade distribution are sergeants who are active gang members.
- A May 2006 interview with a former Marine and Gangster Disciple member incarcerated in Colorado detailed how easily soldiers-many of whom were gang members-stole military weapons and equipment and used them on the streets of US cities or sold them to civilian gang members.
- In December 2005 a National Guard soldier allegedly smuggled several machine guns back from Iraq and sold them to a gun dealer in Georgia, according to open-source information.
- In a May 2006 interview with the Colorado Department of Corrections, an incarcerated Gangster Disciple member and former Marine discussed the advantages of military training and how it assists gang members in bank robberies, home invasions, and confrontations with police.
- A 2006 news interview revealed that a Marine, who was a King Cobra member, stationed at MCAS Camp Pendleton, taught members of his gang how to engage in military-style ambushes and how to position themselves for tactical advantage. He further admitted that he joined the Marines "to learn how to shoot guns."
Threat to Dependents
Gang members commonly target dependent children of military personnel for recruitment. Military children are considered potential candidates for gang membership because the transient nature of their families often makes them feel isolated, vulnerable, and in need of companionship. Dependents of service members may be involved in drug distribution and assaults both on and off of military bases. Lax security at open installations may facilitate recruitment by allowing civilian gang members to access the base and interact with military personnel and their children.
- Fort Bragg officials report that a number of violent incidences occurring on post often involve gang members and transpire at on-post nightclubs.
- In May 2005 the Fort Bragg Provost Marshall (PM) closed the Fort Bragg Fair early because of multiple fights prompted by youths flashing gang signs. The PM remarked that similar incidences had also occurred at the prior year's fair.
- A retired Special Forces soldier and President of the Hells Angels Fayetteville, North Carolina, chapter regularly visits Fort Bragg.
- US Department of Defense (DoD) youth program staff have acknowledged that military children are heavily influenced by gangs. However, many military spokespersons have dismissed these children as “wannabe gang members.”
- According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, military facilities in the continental United States as well as overseas military facilities have all experienced gang activity committed by dependents of service members.
Getting in the Military
Gang members have been known to enlist in the military by failing to report past criminal convictions or by using fraudulent documents. Some applicants enter the criminal justice system as juveniles and their criminal records are sealed and unavailable to recruiters performing criminal background investigations. Many military recruiters are not properly trained to recognize gang affiliation and unknowingly recruit gang members, particularly if the applicant has no criminal record or visible tattoos.
- In August 2006 a Latin King member from Milwaukee joined the Marines while under federal indictment for racketeering. The recruiter reported that despite the gang member's indictment, he was still eligible for military service because he had not yet been convicted. He was, however, ultimately denied enlistment from service before reporting for duty.
- In 2006 an MS-13 member stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington reported that he and several other MS-13 members joined the military after their clique's leader was incarcerated. The soldier claimed that he was candid about his gang membership when recruited.
- In 2005 a Latin King member was allegedly recruited into the Army at a Brooklyn, New York, courthouse while awaiting trial for assaulting a New York police officer with a razor. He was reportedly instructed by the recruiter to conceal his gang affiliation.
- In 2005 a California probation officer reported that they were lobbied by Army recruiters to support early probation terminations for gang-affiliated probationers to facilitate their military recruitment.
