Fullbore Friday

the war comes home

When I was in NROTC, IIRC, Tuesday was the day we had classes. The one day of the week we wore uniforms.

The only concern I ever really had was if my gig-line was correct.

For the ROTC Cadets (I assume Army ROTC at this point, perhaps we will know more later), the post 911 reality decided to visit them.

He allegedly walked into the Old Dominion classroom on Thursday and asked if it was an ROTC class, and when someone answered, "yes," he shot the instructor several times, according to sources. Evans alleged he shouted "Allah Akbar" during the incident.

That is the moment. That is when you have an instant to make a call. Fight, flight, or freeze.

Character is revealed.

Tomorrow’s leaders made their choice, a very American choice: fight.

A heroic ROTC student fatally stabbed the crazed ISIS-linked gunman who opened fire inside an Old Dominion University classroom Thursday, preventing further carnage, law enforcement sources said.

Shooter Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, 36, gunned down an instructor before the unidentified cadet jumped into action to put an end to the suspected terror attack on the Virginia college campus, according to sources.

Jalloh, who was previously convicted of trying to support ISIS, walked into the classroom and asked if it was an ROTC class, sources told The Post.

We’ll return to that last sentence in a moment, but first we have to recognize a few things.

First, it appears that multiple cadets who went after the terrorist.

The FBI said ROTC students were in the classroom when he opened fire and stepped in, rendering him “no longer alive.”

Evans, the FBI special agent in charge, would not go into detail as to how the suspected shooter was killed, but said he was not shot. “They basically were able to terminate the threat,” she said.

In non-FBI speak, they killed him with their bare hands and, according to some reports, a knife.

Bravo Zulu.

There were some injuries.

Two of the victims were transported by ambulance to the Level I trauma center at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, the hospital said in a statement Thursday night. One of those patients died. The other remained in critical condition, the hospital said.

A third person was treated and released from the Sentara Independence free-standing emergency department in Virginia Beach after arriving in a personal vehicle.

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said on social media that two of the victims were Army personnel. “I’m praying for them and all those impacted by this terrible event,” Driscoll said.

We should also take a moment to recognize the officer killed in the line of duty, Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, USA.

He gave his life helping to develop the leaders of tomorrow’s Army at the very place where he started. Giving back.

His background reflects the extraordinarily ordinary Americans you find throughout the U.S. military.

What a great and accomplished American.

Shah was a native Virginian from Staunton. He enlisted in the army in 2003 as an aviation operations specialist and enrolled at ODU in 2005, according to his profile on ODU’s website.

Shah received his Army commission and graduated in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a minor in military science.

Since his ODU commissioning, Shah earned his Army Aviation Senior Aviator wings, having flown more than 1,200 hours in three different aircrafts, and completed over 600 combat flight hours, according to his ODU profile.

Shah also had an MBA from the University of Georgia, and an MS in engineering management from the University of Kansas.

His death was avoidable and a huge loss to his family, friends, the Army, and his nation.

Let’s return to the terrorist.

Jalloh was a naturalized U.S. citizen, originally from Sierra Leone, a country on the coast of West Africa.

…

When (Mohamed Bailor Jalloh) pleaded guilty in 2016, Jalloh admitted he had communicated with a member of ISIS who was located overseas, who introduced him to an individual in the U.S. who was actually an FBI confidential informant.

The ISIS member was believed to be actively plotting an attack and believed Jalloh would assist the informant in carrying it out. During one meeting with the FBI informant, Jalloh was asked about a timeline for an operation and commented that it was better to plan an attack for the month of Ramadan, court records say.

Prosecutors had recommended Jalloh serve 20 years in prison. It’s not immediately clear why he was released before the end of his 11-year sentence, though it is not unusual in the federal prison system for inmates to be released before serving their full term of imprisonment.

So, a naturalized U.S. citizen, with military training, tried to join ISIS. Prosecutors wanted 20 years, but was given 11 years. Released in December 2024, serving only seven years.

Here are some details from 2017. Emphasis is mine.

He admitted he traveled to Africa in 2015 and connected with an IS contact there.

He said he backed out of traveling to join the IS in Libya but that he gave hundreds of dollars to support recruits.

He was arrested in July after an FBI sting operation in which he discussed launching a Fort Hood-style attack with an undercover agent.

Jalloh renounced the IS group in court papers.

“I feel like a complete idiot for accepting such a superficial and dishonest interpretation of Islam,” Jalloh wrote in a letter to the court.

Congress needs to revisit grounds for denaturalization.

We also need to find out who the judge was that decided 11 year was fine. We also need to know who decided that the terrorist only needed to serve 7 of those 11 years.

We also need to try to understand the mindset behind the Norfolk DA who had this to say after the terrorist attack so we can better inform the voters of Norfolk who they support.

Accountability. In a serious nation with a serious judicial system, Lt. Col. Shah would be alive and so would Jalloh—either in jail or somewhere in Sierra Leone.

To the ROTC cadets at ODU and to the memory of Lt. Col. Shah—fullbore.