The commanding officer of the U.S. Army Recruiting Battalion Atlanta visited the Armed Forces Recruiting Center in Cleveland Tuesday afternoon to talk to recruiters under his command. The purpose of the visit was to assess the recruiters’ thoughts and feelings following the July 16 attack on the National Guard Recruiting Center in Chattanooga and the Naval Operations Support Center.
Lt. Col. Tony Parilli asked the attending media outlets to respect his and his recruiters’ privacy and not ask questions.
“We are grateful for what you all do and we’re grateful to the city for their support, but really the main thing here is to thank you and to spend time with them," said Lt. Col. Parilli. "We’ve got to hear from our youngsters who are doing this important work, yet massage their feelings and how to best resource them.”
Asked what he had learned from visitations at the other stations, he said, “That’s between us. We have some things to work through and we respect the privacy in working through those things. Know from a leadership perspective, we are looking at ways to increase our security.”
His secondary purpose was to express appreciation to Cleveland Mayor Tom Rowland for the support exhibited by the city of Cleveland during and since the terrorist attack on the military installation on Lee Highway in Chattanooga.
Mayor Rowland said Cleveland police officers have guarded the recruiting center since the attack “and we’ll continue our presence until you say different, it’s up to you. ”
The mayor reminded the Army officer that the Cleveland Police Department SWAT Team, along with members of Bradley County Sheriff's Office and Tennessee Highway Patrol, responded to Bradley Square Mall and cleared the perimeter Thursday morning after an erroneous report of gunfire in the National Guard Recruitment Office.
“It was a good drill if nothing else, but we’re glad that’s all it was,” the mayor said.
Lt. Col. Parilli presented a challenge coin to Mayor Rowland as “a token of our appreciation.
Mayor Rowland said, “We support you in every way and we are glad you are here.”
Before entering the Army recruiting office, Lt Col. Parilli walked next door to the Marine recruiting office to express his sorrow. He said it is common knowledge that the different branches of the armed forces fight and poke at each other, “and we fight each other like brothers but when something happens, don’t mess with our brothers and that’s what we’ve been experiencing.”