Taking pictures at military bases

[tathepilot]

What is the policy about civilians taking pictures at military bases?

If this is prohibited, under what statue does this fall..?

 

[BingoOnTheBall]

Under the statue of liberty? Sorry had to...

Usually specific areas will be posted where no camera's are allowed, otherwise snap away.

 

[JimNtexas]

In the good old days of the Cold War you were not supposed to take pictures on the flight line, but if you really wanted to you could ask the base Public Affairs guy for a little permission slip that authorized picture taking. I did it a couple of times.

 

[JungleJett]

What is the policy about civilians taking pictures at military bases?

If this is prohibited, under what statue does this fall..?

If I recall, the law is posted on the sign itself. I may be wrong though. I am sure whatever security force that meets you would be happy to explain the law.

 

[JimNtexas]

The best thing to do is call the public affairs office at the base you want to photograph. They are the ones who deal with that kind of request. All they can say is 'no', but they might say 'yes'.

 

[BiffF15]

What is the policy about civilians taking pictures at military bases?

If this is prohibited, under what statue does this fall..?

Not sure which statue it falls under, however the signs usually say "By order of installation commander". He is personally responsible nothing of value to national security gets compromised.

 

[skybert]

I was taking pics of an old base I was stationed at back in the 80's. Most of it is civilian now. I was taking pics of the main gate and the general area when I got a visit from the local civilian police and the MP's. They took my name and address then sent me on my way. This was a former air faciltity and now theres just a small admin activity there. Go figure.

 

[BiffF15]

Cops unfortunately aren't allowed to use reasoning or common sense (no insult intended). They have to follow the rules to and by the letter.

 

[FlaZoomie]

The MP's and SP's will tell you the law in the holding cell.

 

[bearcat]

ROE - Find red line that enclose aircraft parking area, run full speed towards red line, do NOT stop, keep going while pulling out your camera (sts) and start taking pictures. End

 

[Gorilla]

I find the "lethal force" signs and boundaries around many flight lines pretty interesting and intimidating. In so many words they basically say "cross this line and we get to shoot you, no questions asked." I remember a buddy of mine ate an M-16 barrel when he crossed one of them at Eglin. He was in a flightsuit, and was running late for something. He took a foolish shortcut, and the SP's were on him in less than a minute, a half-dozen piling out of a truck, armed and ready. A few rug-dances later he was off the hook, but the SP's do apparently have some sort of authority to blow intruders away, at their discretion, with nuclear weapons storage being at the top of the list.

 

[MarineGrunt]

ROE - Find red line that enclose aircraft parking area, run full speed towards red line, do NOT stop, keep going while pulling out your camera (sts) and start taking pictures. End

And don't forget the running password... "ALLAH AKBAR!!! ALLAH AKBAR!!!!"

 

[bssthound]

Originally Posted by bearcat
ROE - Find red line that enclose aircraft parking area, run full speed towards red line, do NOT stop, keep going while pulling out your camera (sts) and start taking pictures. End

Marine Grunt added:

And don't forget the running password... "ALLAH AKBAR!!! ALLAH AKBAR!!!!"

Aw, he11, you might as well wear a turban while you're at it! Strap an AK across your back, too. That oughta make for a good story.

 

[Weasel Keeper]

The best thing to do is call the public affairs office at the base you want to photograph. They are the ones who deal with that kind of request. All they can say is 'no', but they might say 'yes'.

This is the way it still works. I was just TDY to Burlington, VT last month and had a buddy who wanted to come see our jets. All I had to do was talk to PA, then I went ahead and told MOC and Security Forces just to be perfectly clear about a civilian on the ramp with a camera. They had no problem after I jumped through the hoops.

There is a chance PA will say no. If I wouldn't have been able to personally escort my friend, PA said they were too busy on the day he wanted to come and would have told him no.

If you're outside the fence then normally nobody will bother you.