suethem,

When I was stationed with the U.S. Army in Europe in the mid-1980s my unit was called on to provide soldiers for guard duty during a time of heightened security concerns. We were issued no ammunition. Armed with unloaded M-16 rifles, our duty was to check the ID of persons entering a military facility. To disguise the fact that we were unarmed, we were required to keep an empty magazine in the chamber. In the event of terrorist attack, we were to telephone the military police for help.

The reason for this is that the officers in charge didn't trust their soldiers with live ammunition: they were more concerned about the potential career consequences of an accidental discharge than the fact that by making their soldiers appear to be armed, when they weren't, they were needlessly placing our lives in additional danger, because any terrorist contemplating an attack might decide that he/she needed to kill the guards first. I asked my unit commander whether, since we were not trusted with ammunition, we might at least be issued bayonets while on guard duty. He considered this request, but the answer from higher was, "no."

In my opinion, if soldiers are not to be trusted with loaded weapons in a public milieu, then it is wrong to order them to masquerade as armed guards.