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Recruiters ‘vigilant’ after bombing

Air Force recruiters continued business as usual Thursday after a bomb attack at a New York City Army recruiting station.

While Army recruiters were put on heightened alert, no special measures were in place at Air Force recruiting stations.

“Our Air Force recruiters remain vigilant,” said Lt. Col. Sean McKenna, spokesman for Air Force Recruiting Services, “and they continue to work with law enforcement in their areas to ensure that force protection measures are in place.”

A crude bomb shattered a window and a glass door at an Army recruiting station in Times Square early Thursday morning, the Associated Press reported. A private security camera captured footage of a cyclist stopping at the station around 3:40 a.m. and then riding away shortly before an explosion, the report said.

Though there have been instances of graffiti and recruiters’ tires being slashed in the past few years, there have been no bombings at Air Force recruiting stations, McKenna said.

“Several recruiting areas have mentioned that local law enforcement have made it a priority to be extra careful watching their recruiting stations today,” he said.

No one was hurt in the blast, which caused minor damage to the landmark recruiting center.

Army recruiters assigned to the Time Square station were not present when the blast happened, nor were any prospective recruits, a Training and Doctrine Command press release stated.

Meanwhile, New York police are investigating a cyclist that rode up to the station, got off his bike and then pedaled away just before the bomb was detonated at about 3:40 a.m.

“While the incident is being investigated, we have directed all Army recruiting stations to assume a higher level of awareness,” the release states.

The military’s 1,600 recruiting stations nationwide were alerted to the New York incident and advised to use extra caution, said Douglas Smith, spokesman for the Army recruiting command.

Recruiters assigned to the Time Square station will work temporarily out of their Union Square office, said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman.

Army officials maintain that the incident will not affect recruiting efforts in New York.

The recruiting center has drawn sporadic protests for many years, including in October 2005, when a group who call themselves the Granny Peace Brigade rallied there against the Iraq war. Eighteen activists, most of them grandmothers in their 80s and 90s, were later acquitted of disorderly conduct. The brigade issued a statement Thursday deploring the bombing.

The station was renovated in 1999 to better fit into the flashy ambiance of Times Square, using neon tubing to give the glass and steel office a patriotic American flag motif. For a half century, the station was the armed forces’ busiest recruiting center. It has set national records for enlistment, averaging about 10,000 volunteers a year.

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