No South Dakota Army National Guard troops are stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, where an Army officer reportedly shot 13 people to death and wounded another 31 on Thursday.

But South Dakota Army National Guard troops have deployed from Fort Hood and will deploy again from there, according to Capt. Anthony Deiss, deputy public affairs officer for the Guard at Camp Rapid.

"It is a post that we do mobilize out of," Deiss said Thursday afternoon.

Deiss said the 147th Artillery Brigade, based in eastern South Dakota, left for Kuwait from Fort Hood last June.

The 196th Mobile Enhancement Brigade of Sioux Falls is scheduled to deploy from Fort Hood next May for Afghanistan.

At posts such as Fort Hood that are used for deployment, units going overseas get battle training and undergo weapons qualification and medical screening.

"They basically get brought into the active-duty system through these posts," Deiss said.

He said typically the only people on an Army installation authorized to carry weapons are security forces and military police.

"There are weapons vaults, because the military is constantly training," he said. "The units themselves keep a very tight control on the arms on those posts."

He said individual soldiers aren't allowed to carry weapons.

Deiss said he wasn't sure whether soldiers can have their personal firearms on an installation.

Camp Rapid had not received orders to change security procedures, but such changes could be ordered after the investigation into the Fort Hood shooting is complete, according to Maj. Brendan Murphy, public affairs officer for the South Dakota National Guard.

Similarly, at Ellsworth Air Force Base, the 28th Bomb Wing has not changed its security posture, according to Tech Sgt. Steve Wilson of the base's Public Affairs office.

"We have not changed our security posture but maintain a heightened state of awareness," Wilson said. "We will take appropriate measures to protect our people and resources, if necessary. The safety and security of our airmen and families are first and foremost in our mind."

Wilson said base officials can't discuss specific security measures.

"There are security procedures in place. Our security forces are very well trained for a variety of responses. Not only do they do air-base defense when deployed overseas, but they are trained in traditional police duties, as well," Wilson said. "If an incident like this were to happen, we are equipped to respond to it."

Wilson said airmen are allowed to keep personal firearms in their residences on base, but they are required to register firearms with base security forces.

"If you are allowed to legally own a weapon in the civilian world, you are allowed to own them in your quarters," he said, but added, "You can't carry a privately owned weapon on a federal military installation even if you have a license."

Wilson said he couldn't reveal all of the procedures, but he said, for example, if an airman takes his personal weapon off base to hunt, when he returns, he is required to take the weapon straight to his quarters. "You're not allowed to stop and go shopping and things like that."

Wilson said many airmen in his office were watching television news about the incident unfolding in Texas.

"As a military member, when you see things like this, it hits very close to home. It's safe to say that people all across the armed forces are watching this."

The Guard's Deiss had similar sentiments. "It concerns all military members when incidents like these happen. Our hearts go out to the soldiers and their families that are directly involved in this incident," he said. "When you have men and women who put on the uniform to go fight overseas for their country -- and to have something like this happen at home before they even go -- it's just heartbreaking."

Contact Steve Miller at 394-8415 or steve.miller@rapidcityjournal.com.