The Corps has placed new restrictions on foreign troops’ access to Marine Corps installations in an attempt to improve base security in the wake of a base shooting by a foreign military student who killed three sailors and wounded eight others.
Royal Saudi Air Force Lt. Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani was a student naval flight officer on base on Dec. 6. at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida.
The change applies to common access cards, or CACs, with a blue stripe issued to foreign military students, liaison officers and participants in the personnel exchange program, according to a Feb. 6 administrative message announcing the policy.
Once in effect, the blue-striped CAC cards will give the holder permission to access only the bases where they are assigned, unless they receive special permission on a case-by-case basis, the MARADMIN said. Their CAC cards previously gave access to all bases.
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The new policy also requires foreign nationals to have their CAC card scanned every time they attempt to enter a base even if others are being waived through due to the security conditions.
The policy gives Marine Corps commands until Feb. 25 to develop a roster of all hosted foreign troops, and provide their identifying information, the reason they are being hosted and how long they will need access to the base.
Once the rosters are developed and turned into the base’s provost marshal’s office, base security will update their security system and notify the commands of any foreign nationals that need to update their CAC card.
The MARADMIN, first reported by Gina Harkins with Military.com, is the second big change the Marine Corps has made to improve security in the wake of the Pensacola shooting.
In December the Marine Corps changed their policy to allow off-duty active Marine law enforcement personnel to conceal carry their personal firearms.
