A few questions for my aviation photogrpahy buddies
I received an email from someone that appears to be an Air Force officer. His email came from a Gmail account, so I cannot verify who or where he is ... but he seems genuinely helpful and honest.
His email came with the following disclaimer: "I do not work with Nellis AFB, I'm at a different base, so I'm not authorized to tell you these things, but they are mainly public knowledge, also, I can not completely speak for them, due to their regulations may be a bit different than ours, that being said, let me go through these questions."
So anyways, without quoting his entire email I will just sat that there are two points that were made many times over as he answered my now famous "seven questions"
In many of his responses he made reference to the military police's jurisdiction extending off base to any location that is withing LOS (line of sight) of the base.
Also in many of his responses he referenced increased jurisdiction/rights on the part of the MPs and decreased civilian rights "around military bases" while we are in a "state of war".
My questions are these:
1. Does anyone know for sure if the MPs jurisdiction extends to any location within line of sight of the base?
2. Is the US actually in a "state of war"? (The USA has not declared war on a country since WWII)
3. Does a "state of war" increase the MPs jurisdiction over civilians and/or reduce our rights "around military bases"?
Note: A later email from this person states "due to a majority of US military assets being deployed to Iraq and other countries, the Department of Defense has declared that the US military is in a state of war, even if congress has not actually declared war on a country"
A Google search for "DoD declaration of state of war" turns up nothing.
Does anyone know if the DoD has declared a "state of war"? And if so, what does it mean?
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Ive said this before many times but I think it's worth repeating.
I have no interest in being a troublemaker or a pain in the ass to the Air Force. I have no interest in finding out what the law is so that I can "get around" the law. I want to know what the law is so that I can be sure that I never violate it and I never do anything to jeopardize my nation's security. And I certainly do not want to end up in jail for taking a picture of something that I should not have. ..and I want to pass this information along to other photographers as well to keep them out of trouble.
I'd really like to know if my passion for aviation photography can co-exist with the laws of our land. ... but sadly nobody in a position of authority is willing to say what the law is. I'd like to make sure that we can all stay safe and legal when we go out photographing planes.
The laws regarding aviation photography in the proximity of a military base (if any actually exist) are our nations best kept secret it seems.
His email came with the following disclaimer: "I do not work with Nellis AFB, I'm at a different base, so I'm not authorized to tell you these things, but they are mainly public knowledge, also, I can not completely speak for them, due to their regulations may be a bit different than ours, that being said, let me go through these questions."
So anyways, without quoting his entire email I will just sat that there are two points that were made many times over as he answered my now famous "seven questions"
In many of his responses he made reference to the military police's jurisdiction extending off base to any location that is withing LOS (line of sight) of the base.
Also in many of his responses he referenced increased jurisdiction/rights on the part of the MPs and decreased civilian rights "around military bases" while we are in a "state of war".
My questions are these:
1. Does anyone know for sure if the MPs jurisdiction extends to any location within line of sight of the base?
2. Is the US actually in a "state of war"? (The USA has not declared war on a country since WWII)
3. Does a "state of war" increase the MPs jurisdiction over civilians and/or reduce our rights "around military bases"?
Note: A later email from this person states "due to a majority of US military assets being deployed to Iraq and other countries, the Department of Defense has declared that the US military is in a state of war, even if congress has not actually declared war on a country"
A Google search for "DoD declaration of state of war" turns up nothing.
Does anyone know if the DoD has declared a "state of war"? And if so, what does it mean?
-------------------------------------
Ive said this before many times but I think it's worth repeating.
I have no interest in being a troublemaker or a pain in the ass to the Air Force. I have no interest in finding out what the law is so that I can "get around" the law. I want to know what the law is so that I can be sure that I never violate it and I never do anything to jeopardize my nation's security. And I certainly do not want to end up in jail for taking a picture of something that I should not have. ..and I want to pass this information along to other photographers as well to keep them out of trouble.
I'd really like to know if my passion for aviation photography can co-exist with the laws of our land. ... but sadly nobody in a position of authority is willing to say what the law is. I'd like to make sure that we can all stay safe and legal when we go out photographing planes.
The laws regarding aviation photography in the proximity of a military base (if any actually exist) are our nations best kept secret it seems.
