Military Bases in the United States and the Waco Anniversary

Military bases in the United States are being told to tighten security for the April 19 anniversary of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the 1993 Branch Davidian siege in Waco, Texas, the Pentagon's top officer said Thursday.

"We will remind all commanders of the upcoming anniversary and urge them to take the measures appropriate in their particular areas," Army Gen. John Shalikashvili told reporters in response to questions.

"My intention is to call to the commanders' attention the fact that this anniversary is coming and to re-evaluate the security situation at their particular installations," added Shalikashvili, chairman of the Pentagon Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Defense officials said there was no specific indication that bases might be targeted by extremists on the anniversary but that the Defense Department wanted to be careful.

The military Tuesday tightened security at the Colorado headquarters of its North American Aerospace Defense Command and canceled public tours of the facility after local authorities relayed a threat to the base.

The nature of that threat was not explained, but Shalikashvili said Thursday that the timing of the threat "has come and gone ... and I suspect that in the not-too-distant future they will return back to normal."

He also said there was no evidence to connect the April 2 disappearance of an A-10 attack jet in the mountains of Colorado with the anniversary of the 1995 bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City, which killed 168 people.

The 1993 siege at Waco, where some 80 members of the Branch Davidian cult died in a standoff with federal officials, also occurred on April 2.

"I do not have enough information to lead me to believe that there is somehow a connection between that incident in Oklahoma City now nearly a year ago and the disappearance of this airplane," Shalikashvili said.

Some published reports have speculated that the pilot of the A-10, Capt. Craig Button, might have landed his plane at a remote Colorado airfield with four bombs. But the Pentagon has said it has no evidence of that.

Button's A-10 disappeared while flying in a three-aircraft formation on a routine training mission in Arizona, and a high-tech search using helicopters, spyplanes and satellites has failed to find the aircraft or the pilot.

Air Force officials are at a loss to explain why Button apparently veered northeast into Colorado, some 850 miles from where the training exercise was taking place.

"The first thing that needs to be said is that I feel very much for Captain Button's family in all of this," Shalikashvili said Thursday. "I am satisfied with everything that is being done to try to find him and the airplane."

------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thursday April 17 5:35 AM EDT

Key U.S. Military Base on Security Alert

DENVER (Reuter) - The U.S. military has tightened security at the Colorado headquarters of its North American Aerospace Defense Command and canceled public tours of the facility, the Defense Department said Wednesday.

The decision came just days before the second anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. But a spokeswoman for NORAD and its companion U.S. Space Command in Colorado would not say why the precautions -- which also included putting up some additional barricades -- have been carried out Tuesday.

A Pentagon official in Washington would say only that "information of possible security concerns" had been received and resulted in the crackdown at Cheyenne Mountain headquarters of NORAD, already considered one of the nation's most secure military posts.

The NORAD command, established during the Cold War to keep radar watch for possible Soviet nuclear missile or bomber attack on the United States and Canada, has its headquarters deep inside the mountain in Colorado.

"The Air Force has heightened security at the Cheyenne Mountain Air Station after receiving information of possible security concerns," Air Force Lt. Col. Quennie Byars, a Defense Department spokeswoman, said in response to questions.

"Although one of the most secure installations in the nation, due to this information additional security measures are deemed prudent," Byars said.

Other defense officials, who asked not to be identified, suggested the security threat might not be part of any larger threat against U.S. military bases. They refused to be more specific.

In Colorado, NORAD spokeswoman Franki Webster declined to say whether the security concerns were specifically related to the April 19 anniversaries of the Oklahoma City bombing, which killed 168 people, and the 1993 siege at Waco, Texas, where some 80 members of the Branch Davidian cult died in a standoff with federal officials.

The Oklahoma City bombing trial of Timothy McVeigh was under way in Denver where security was extremely high. Before the trial began March 31, concrete barricades were erected around the complex that houses the Denver federal courthouse and the adjacent federal office building.

"Additional security measures are being considered and may be implemented as the situation requires," Byars said. "We regret any inconvenience the additional security measures may cause the public and those who work at Chenenne Mountain."

Security was always very high at NORAD. People wishing to visit must relinquish cameras, beepers and cellular telephones and must make arrangements as much as six months ahead of time.

The Pentagon said the much sought-after tours of the non-restricted areas of the mountain facility would be rescheduled for a later date.