ARLINGTON, Va. - On Saturday April 9, 2010, a little more than a month after a lone gunman was killed in a hail of bullets outside the entrance to the Pentagon, a tense situation unfolded in the exact same location.

"We had an individual drive up from Richmond, Va., and he attempted to enter the Pentagon. He was intercepted," said Pentagon Force Protection Director Steven Calvery.

"The man came to the pre-screening area, (and) said he had an appointment with a fictitious admiral. So we interviewed him, got a consent search of his car. He had a loaded 9-millimeter pistol."

"It wasn't a violent attempt to enter," says Calvery.

But, that, along with the March 4 shooting that left John Patrick Bedell, 36, dead, confirmed what Calvery, a former Special Agent in the Secret Service, had suspected would happen.

"Those type of incidents are on the rise here," he says.

And, the Pentagon is a target. He also says security officials need to adjust their focus.

"We've been focused on the al-Qaida type terrorist attack, but with a lone gunman there's always a threat."

The Bedell incident taught the Pentagon Force Protection team a lot.

"He comes to the Pentagon. He's at the bus terminal. He's watching from a distance. We can only assume was planning his approach. He paces back and forth for a few minutes. Walks right up. Pulls a gun and starts shooting. It happened just like that."

Calvery says that means they need to make several adjustments, including changing the distance from the pre-screening area to the entrance.

"If you're familiar with the pre-screening area here at the Pentagon, the pre-screening area where the incident took place is very close to the building. So we think we need to move it further away, which we're in the process of doing."

In addition, the electronic entry system will be significantly changed. Calvery says the gates through which entrants pass will be raised well above the 3 feet they currently are. But that's not all.

"You'll walk up to a turnstile. You'll have your building pass and you swipe that building pass and that technology along with some biometrics will determine whether you can enter the building or not."

Those biometrics will include an eye scan. Science has proven a retina scan is one of the most reliable methods of identity verification, because no two are the same.

The Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA) is staffed by sworn federal police officers from the Pentagon Police force, civilian criminal investigators and Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear technicians and a broad section of support teams. In the bowels of the building a super-sophisticated command center keeps an eye on everything.

"The concept came from three previously stand alone operation centers whose day-to-day mission was to protect the 20-plus thousand employees who come to work here every day and the building itself," says John O'Neil, senior watch officer for the Pentagon's Integrated Operations Center.

During a tour of the center, its high tech capabilities were on full display with more than two dozen people carefully watching large security monitors that pipe in video feeds from outside and inside the building. The video system has capabilities that extend far beyond five floors, five rings and 17.5 miles of corridors.

But one of the more impressive features is the fire response capabilities the center is build with. According to O'Neil, "If there is a fire in the building, we can manipulate the air flow to control fire."

Calvery says, the agency, which was established in response to the Sept. 11, 2001 al-Qaida terrorist attack on the Pentagon needs to focus on more on domestic terrorism, because the evidence demands it.

"The attack the federal courthouse, in Las Vegas, the individual flying the plane into the IRS building in Austin, Texas, the shooter at the state capitol in Austin, Texas, and the shooter here at the Pentagon are a good wake call to show that these people are a growing threat."

(Copyright 2010 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)

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