Free Republic

When I was a youth, in the 1960’s and 1970’s, one of the biggest treats that my father would give us would be a trip to one of the nearby “Army and Navy” stores. We would hop in the car, and then ride for a spell (depending on the direction) from a half an hour to an hour and a half drive. We would stop along the way to get a soft-serve cone at Dairy Queen, and then spend an hour or so in the store. They all looked pretty much the same no matter where you went. The nearest...

The Pentagon has banned 145 law enforcement agencies from receiving surplus military weapons and supplies, part of a program under scrutiny after police in combat gear responded to protests in Ferguson, MO. In each case examined by the Cox Washington bureau, the departments were suspended after losing high-powered weapons. The Daytona Beach Police Department was blacklisted after reporting a lost Colt M16 rifle in January. "We still have not been able to find it," Daytona Beach Police spokesman Jimmie Flynt said.

State and local police departments obtain some of their military-style equipment through a free Defense Department program created in the early 1990s. ..... detailed data from the Pentagon illustrates how ubiquitous such equipment has become. Highlighted counties have received guns, grenade launchers, vehicles, night vision or body armor through the program since 2006. (Interactive Map at the linked source)

A Democratic congressman plans to introduce a bill to restrict a Defense Department program that provides machine guns and other surplus military equipment for free to local law enforcement agencies across the country. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., said Thursday that the death of an unarmed teenager who was shot by a police officer in a St. Louis suburb highlights the need for the legislation, which has been in the works for months. The bill comes as members of Congress have called for the Justice Department to investigate the shooting of a black teen by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo....

Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Alex Lepley imagines a scenario where a man has barricaded himself, fired a gun at police officers and placed bystanders in peril. Enter UHP’s new mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle, “MRAP” for short. Or at least that’s what the U.S. Army called it. The U.S. Department of Defense recently gave a surplus MRAP to the highway patrol. The law enforcement agency plans to use it to carry troopers to dangerous crime scenes and to keep those troopers safe while protecting civilians. […] The Defense Department has provided the weaponry and equipment through what it calls the 1033...

Gently used submarine base yours for $17.5M (sub not included) Norway is joining a growing trend of governments selling off old infrastructure installations like cupcakes at a bake sale. They've recently listed the Olavsvern Naval Submarine Base on the real estate market, and hope to add a cool $17.5 million to their budgetary bottom line for their efforts. Submarine is not included in the asking price. That's a sure sign times are really tough folks. Since anyone who will buy this base is clearly a gazillionaire that's not likely to stop them. In addition to needing to bring your own...

San Francisco may be known for antiwar movements and peace rallies, but when local law enforcement agencies needed help with supplies, they've turned to the U.S. military. Over the past two decades, San Francisco authorities have acquired infrared devices, combat helmets, chemical protective gloves, vehicles and even a boat as discarded hand-me-downs free of charge from the Department of Defense. In total, the San Francisco police and sheriff's departments have taken $1.4 million in equipment, from a $20 pair of evidence boxes to "climber's equipment" worth $325,000 in 1996. Several other government agencies in California also have tapped the vast...

On the outskirts of this former insurgent stronghold, Munir Ibrahim Ismail and his family have taken up residence in an American military latrine. They picked up the trailer full of toilets at a junkyard for about $5,000 — less than it would have cost them to build a real house — and set to work. They tore out the toilet bowls and scrubbed the trailer for days with disinfectant. They ripped off tiles, poured a concrete floor and added a window. They erected a divider to create two rooms and tacked on a concrete kitchen at the back. Presto! A...