'This cannot become a battlefield'

KILLEEN, Texas (KXAN) - Every resources of the U.S. Army is at the disposal of Fort Hood and its population to help deal with the impact of Thursday's mass shooting that paralyzed the nation, said Lt. Gen. Robert Cone Monday afternoon.

While Cone said that they are taking a very hard look at themselves and anything that might have been done to have prevented the tragedy at the largest post in the world, he is also taking a very focused approach to the aftermath at Fort Hood.

"One of the things that we want to avoid, our intent, is not to isolate ourselves from this great local community," said Cone. "This cannot become a battlefield."

Monday marks the fourth day after suspected gunman Nidal Malik Hasan's attack on Fort Hood - a tragedy that left 13 people dead and wounded 30 others.

The mass shooting has led to many questions, while officials scramble to regain order in what has always been an extremely structured environment.

"We will provide the right kind of security measures to make sure it doesn't [become a battlefield]," said Cone.

While the lieutenant general said he believes this is an isolated incident, he said there are a lot of things that could be done in terms of security. Some examples include having different levels of searches and activity, such as armed guards patrolling the grounds.

Cone also said that while the post was previously open to the public from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., met with positive feedback, that activity has been suspended since the mass shooting. He said the suspension will be examined in the future, because they don't want to hamper the integration into the community that they have worked hard to achieve.

And in the days where potential mental health issues in soldiers have taken the forefront of examination, Cone said officials will be taking a 'big look' across the entire formation for people with overwhelming problems and patterns of behavior that are not at all related to religion.

"If there's anybody out there struggling, that we're going to immediately address their issues," said Cone. "[Behavioral health] is something that we take an active posture on in terms of helping treat soldiers with."

However, Cone made sure people to point out that soldiers are the people who are most prepared to deal with these sorts of things because of their degree of stress training.

Meanwhile, officials said they are aware that soldiers at the post have post-traumatic stress disorder and are pushing across the board to try and address these issues with a comprehensive program that targets everyone caught in the crossfire - from soldiers to civilians to children.

Cone cited 27 military/family life consultants, 57 ministry support teams and 18 combat stress help teams already available. This is in addition to the resiliency campus, the family assistance center and the hotline they are already operating.

Officials are making sure that soldiers will be ready and that the Army has personnel that are prepared to go to Afghanistan when they leave, "reconstituting" those that need it before deployment.

As far as questions into Hasan's investigation, Cone steered clear of the subject: "I need to stay away from Maj. Hasan."

He added that his primary concern was "to reassure the people of Fort Hood that this is a safe place" and that the scene is still under investigation, while authorities continue to process evidence at the crime scene.

Cone noted Gov. Rick Perry visited the area earlier with Texas Rangers and that the FBI collection team is assisting the investigatiion as well, saying it's been a "tremendous collaborating ability" between FBI, CID and Texas Rangers.

Meanwhile, Cone has a previously scheduled televised town hall meeting Monday at 7 p.m. pertaining to behavioral health assessments and all the details regarding Tuesday's memorial ceremony.