Craig,
I was in the local ARNG unit immediately following 9/11. Our local alert level was raised and the State directed that all armories be manned by armed guards 24/7. No big deal except that we don't store ammo locally. We only needed to go across the state to draw it. Two armed guards are required to draw ammo. The guards couldn't take weapons with them to the ammo draw because, you guessed it, you can only transport weapons off post under armed guard. Our battalion staff spent, no kidding, 2 1/2 hours coming up with a fix and another 1/2 a day getting it implemented.

Two unarmed troops went over to a unit on the same base as the ammo and hand receipted 2 pistols. Since they weren't leaving base they didn't have to be under guard. They then went and drew 20 rounds of 9mm and 20 rounds of .223. After loading the pistols they transported the box of rifle ammo back to our First Sergeant. Then they signed out 2 pistols from our armory, emptied the borrowed pistols and loaded ours. They then transported the borrowed weapons back to the owning unit and finally returned home.

And yes, the possilblity of an open purchase of a box of ammo at Wal-Mart was discussed. We were hamstrung by the fact that open purchases are limited to those items not readily available in the supply system.

It's this type of inspired decision making that prompted me to get out of the National Guard. It's also why you don't see truly "armed" National Guard at the airports, responding to riots, etc

Ed