Area military installations have contingency plans for threats from outside and inside their gates.
Quantico Marine Corps Base spokeswoman 1st Lt. Joy Crabaugh said yesterday that officials there were monitoring the situation at Fort Hood. "We are continuing to make certain the appropriate measures are implemented to ensure the safety of our base, Marines and civilian residents and employees," she said.
Crabaugh said the Quantico base was at "threat condition alpha" after the Fort Hood shootings, The Associated Press reported.
Level alpha is one step above normal and is declared when there is a general threat of possible terrorist activity against personnel and facilities, the nature and extent of which are unpredictable.
David San Miguel, spokesman for Fort A.P. Hill in Caroline County, said, "We have a crisis response plan in place" to deal with various threats. He noted that there are only a handful of active military personnel stationed on the base, which hosts tens of thousands of soldiers each year for training.
A spokesman for the Naval Support Facility Dahlgren could not be reached for comment.
--Rusty Dennen