FOXNews.com, Liveshots: Homeland Security

Senior Citizens Break Into Military Base
November 5, 2009 - 4:28 PM | by: Dan Springer

The U.S. Navy is reviewing its security policies following an embarrassing breach this week in Washington State. Five anti-war protesters were able to cut through a perimeter fence around Naval Base Kitsap and walk around the base undetected for four and a half hours. The group included three people in the 60's and three in their 80's.

The group was protesting the nuclear weapons kept at the base and hoped to get as close to them as possible. Members claim when they cut through a second and then a third fence they were within fifty yards of a bunker where nuclear warheads are stored. The Navy dismisses that but will not divulge how close the group got to weapons. It only released a statement saying that 'at no time was the safety of Navy personnel, property or the public threatened in any way.'

The group was swarmed by Marines and arrested shortly after cutting through the third fence. They were charged with trespassing and destruction of military property, both misdemeanors punishable by up to a year in jail.

Naval Base Kitsap is home to a fleet of 11 submarines. Eight of those subs are equipped to fire the trident nuclear missiles. Also, the base reportedly is the storage facility for more than 23-hundred nuclear warheads representing about one-quarter of the nation's nuclear arsenal.

The protestors have all been released and are awaiting an initial appearance in federal court.