Security measures under review at Philadelphia Navy Yard

SOUTH PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Recent attacks at military installations have prompted a move to increase security at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

In June, the Navy Yard was evacuated during a security scare that proved to be unfounded.

The threats to the naval ship systems engineering station, known as 'navsses,' has raised questions about the state of security here.

The employees believe they are vulnerable at the site, including lax security at the entrance and the lack of a system to alert employees in the event of a crisis.

They wrote to Pennsylvania Senator Robert Casey who has fired off a letter to Defense Department officials raising the issues.

"We've got to get some guidance from the Defense Department and Homeland Security on what measures you have to employ. Part of this is doing everything possible to have training for emergencies and an assessment of what's at risk," said Senator Casey.

After deadly attacks in Tennessee at a recruiting center and a reserve center drew further attention of vulnerable military installations, facilities small and large raised the issue once again.

In September of 2013, 12 victims along with a gunman were killed at the Navy Yard in Washington D.C.

In 2009, there was also an attack at Ft. Hood in Texas where 13 were killed and more than 30 injured.

So what's the solution - more armed guards or more military members strapped from head to toe?

"If Homeland Security experts and Department of Defense experts say they should be armed than that carries a lot of weight with me," said Senator Casey.

In Philadelphia on Thursday, we found you can no longer just walk in to enlist but you have to be screened to be admitted.

Senator Casey expects a detailed response from the Pentagon within several weeks. He hopes to have the bureaucracy moving on this issue by the end of the year.