The U.S. military has boosted security at all of its stateside bases and stations; broad recognition that the United States has heightened its awareness of a possible attack inspired by the Islamic State militant group, U.S. officials have said. The force protection condition was upped from “Alpha” to “Bravo,” the middle of five steps on the military’s scale, said Army Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman. It means that the military believes there is an increased and predictable security threat at home, with extra precautions, ID checks and searches launched across the country. It does not mean that an attack is considered imminent, however.
The decision, first reported by CNN, was made by U.S. Northern Command, which oversees homeland security for the Defense Department, and comes at a time when militants in Iraq, Syria and other countries in the Middle East and Africa have called for attacks on U.S. troops at home and abroad. FBI Director, James Comey, said that investigators are pursuing hundreds of investigations related to the Islamic State in the United States. On Sunday, gunmen believed to be inspired by the Islamic State group also opened fire on police guarding a civilian gathering in Garland, Tex., where a contest was underway to draw the prophet Muhammad. “We have a general concern, obviously, that ISIL is focusing on the uniformed military and law enforcement,” Comey said, using one of the acronyms for the militant group.
