Exactly one year ago, the commander of USARAK revoked the policy due to the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act. Of course, such revocation was done hesitantly and with feet being dragged:
"I remain convinced that the carrying of concealed firearms represents a significant risk to the health and welfare of soldiers under this command. I am concerned that by revoking the concealed carry policy memorandum Soldiers may be unaware of their legal limitations and responsibilities concerning carrying concealed weapons."
I fail to understand how the previous memorandum helped inform soldiers of their legal limitations or responsibilities when carrying concealed weapons. The previous policy absolutely forbade concealed carry, even if the soldier was a judge advocate general specializing in firearms law. There was no educational component whatsoever.
Furthermore, how can the soldiers under his command be expected to comprehend and follow the Law of Armed Conflict and Rules of Engagement when deployed to Afghanistan if they cannot handle the relatively simple Alaska firearms laws?
The new memorandum is being copied down the chain of command, with subordinate USARAK commanders basically slapping their signature blocks onto the memo with identical text. This is pretty common in many large organizations though.
Interestingly, the USARAK regulations have not been updated. They still state that it is against regs for soldiers to conceal weapons off post. I have a feeling the new policy memo is not prominently posted...
Still, despite the "strong suggestion" to not CCW, soldiers in Alaska now have another option instead of open carry if they choose to bear arms off post at home station.
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