VANDENBERG ***** E FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) — Five news reporters and two members of the military who were invited to an event at Vandenberg ***** e Force Base in California were briefly detained at gunpoint by security officers who thought they were gate crashers, according to local news reports.
The incident happened Monday ahead of an invitation-only groundbreaking for a new training facility for missile operators at the federal airfield near Santa Barbara, California. Reporters from Noozhawk and KEYT were among those detained, and both outlets published articles detailing the detainment.
In a statement Wednesday, a ***** e Launch Delta 30 Public Affairs spokesperson said base protocols will be reviewed.
"Vandenberg takes both installation security and our responsibility to invited media seriously. The journalists involved were accessing the installation at our invitation, and the installation commander has ordered a full review of the media coordination processes," the statement said.
The reporters and military members were part of a convoy being escorted onto the base by uniformed public affairs staff in a government minivan when they were suddenly ordered out of their vehicles with their hands up, according to news reports.
#base #reporters #force #affairs
The incident happened Monday ahead of an invitation-only groundbreaking for a new training facility for missile operators at the federal airfield near Santa Barbara, California. Reporters from Noozhawk and KEYT were among those detained, and both outlets published articles detailing the detainment.
In a statement Wednesday, a ***** e Launch Delta 30 Public Affairs spokesperson said base protocols will be reviewed.
"Vandenberg takes both installation security and our responsibility to invited media seriously. The journalists involved were accessing the installation at our invitation, and the installation commander has ordered a full review of the media coordination processes," the statement said.
The reporters and military members were part of a convoy being escorted onto the base by uniformed public affairs staff in a government minivan when they were suddenly ordered out of their vehicles with their hands up, according to news reports.
#base #reporters #force #affairs
2 months ago