Army to Deploy Permanent Combat Unit with US, Violating Posse Comitatus; Start Oct 1
According to the Army Times article,
The 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team has spent 35 of the last 60 months in Iraq patrolling in full battle rattle, helping restore essential services and escorting supply convoys.
Now they’re training for the same mission — with a twist — at home.
Beginning Oct. 1 for 12 months, the 1st BCT will be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command, as an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks.
The article does not state the reason for the deployment, the reason for the date (Oct 1) or length (1 year) of the deployment, nor the reason that this particular brigade was selected. It does state, however, that another unit will replace the 1st BCT after it finishes its deployment, and that the "dwell time mission" is expected to become a permanent one:
“Right now, the response force requirement will be an enduring mission. How the [Defense Department] chooses to source that and whether or not they continue to assign them to NorthCom, that could change in the future,” said Army Col. Louis Vogler, chief of NorthCom future operations. “Now, the plan is to assign a force every year.”
While the "dwell time mission" will be trained for certain peace time tasks (a la Katrina clean-up), it is clear from the article that a number of their duties will include tasks traditionally assigned to state and local law enforcement - a clear violation of Posse Comitatus. The article makes multiple references to "Homeland Security" type scenarios like response to terrorist attacks, weapons of mass distruction, etc. But there are also numerous references to "crowd control" type duties, and one officer describes training to use tasers.
The 1st BCT’s soldiers also will learn how to use “the first ever nonlethal package that the Army has fielded,” 1st BCT commander Col. Roger Cloutier said, referring to crowd and traffic control equipment and nonlethal weapons designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals without killing them.
The package includes equipment to stand up a hasty road block; spike strips for slowing, stopping or controlling traffic; shields and batons; and, beanbag bullets.
To my knowledge, there has been NO coverage of this in any traditional media. Nor has there been any justification for what looks like the action of a rogue President teetering on the verge of enforcing Martial Law. I encourage everyone to write their elected representatives to ask for an accounting. I realize that there are "bigger" stories filling the news cycle, but I don't think we should let this go.
So it has become official. We've morphed seamlessly from Compassionate Conservatism to Friendly Fascism.
September 24, 2008 12:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yikes. Looks like its time to get those tickets to Switzerland.
September 24, 2008 12:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
WTF - why not just bring home the guard?
September 24, 2008 12:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
Because a conscientious (true states rights conservative) Governor may not be compliant enough for Dick.
September 24, 2008 12:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
The weird thing is that the National Guard isn't bound by Posse Comitatus. So it's not even illegal to use them for policing (as we've witnessed at various RNC functions, eh?). But this Army deployment just seems... I don't know. Inexplicable.
I mean, maybe I'm missing something. Some subtlety that I don't understand because I am not, myself, a member of the government or a commander of troops or a lawyer or whatever. But to me it seems wrong. I wanted to post here to get other opinions and to (hopefully) sound the alarm in case, heaven forbid, this does actually mean what I think it does.
September 24, 2008 1:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe, that's because Guard unit members are resident to, and have families within, the state they would be deployed. Where as regular Army unit members would mostly come from some state other than whichever one they would be deployed.
The implications of that make this story all the more disturbing.
September 24, 2008 9:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oops - title should read:
Army to Deploy Permanent Combat Unit Within US, Violating Posse Comitatus
an "edit" function would be so keen ^~^
September 24, 2008 1:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
This seems complex as the Insurrection Act of 1807 was amended in 2006:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posse_Comitatus_Act#Homeland_security
but repealed in its entirety in 2008:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurrection_Act#Repeal_of_amendments
The duties look to be a mix of FEMA and Army Corps of Engineers. Interestingly, they are not training in Fort Leonardwood (home of the Army Chem-Bio school).
All in all, an odd little story -- and probably not along the lines of a "Union Army" in our midst, if only because it received so little coverage. Worth watching though!
September 24, 2008 2:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
The Oct 1 choice is probably because that is when the new fiscal year begins. It makes it easier to process the payment paperwork.
And I would guess it's a 12 month rotation because that is what the rotations are in Iraq and Afghanistan.
My best guess is that this is an attempt to get troops out of the front line rotation, and that this was the best way to do it. Now they are still rotating under a combatant command with an ostensible mission of fighting terrorism. The Guard and Reserves are now an "operational" force (meaning they are deployed one year out of every five, but possibly more) and thus cannot be relied upon to meet the needs of policing, damage control, etc. Many state Guard units are being pieced out so that between mobilization, deployment, and recovery times, the state never has a full complement of troops on hand.
However, what is more dismaying is that this will further militarize the "home front," however unintentional that may be. Things raised my concern level when they established NorthCom (a combatant command responsible for the US and Canada) a few years back. This seems to be a very unfortunate step in that direction.
September 24, 2008 7:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
this is my concern. I understand that this may be an "innocent" deployment (i.e., I can take off my tinfoil hat long enough to think that it's not necessarily a sign of an impending coup). But what I don't understand is the need/justification for a permanent, peace-time, interior force deployment. Yeah, the National Guard is over-committed in Iraq. So why not just bring them home, and let the Army do its job there? If the duties performed by this new force are necessary, why not train the Nat'l Guard to do them? I don't understand the restructuring.
September 24, 2008 9:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
And what of Blackwater and the rest of the mercs?
Where will they be when the Iraq debacle is over?
They won't be welcme in the Middle east, without the thret of military force, those mercs would all be hanging from a bridge by now.
They consider themselves tough guys, but take away their military support and Cheney-fueled legitimization, and they become just another well-armed street gang, outnumbered 20 to 1 by other groups who hate them worse than they hate American sodiers in uniform.
When they return, just where will they work? And for whom? Bad enough we now have a violation of one of the basic tenets of our original Revolution against tyrants, those tyrants have a secret army of violent ne'er-do-wells in bullet-proof vests and sunglasses, hopped up on "go-fast" and completely devoid of anything resembling a conscience.
The pigs in Animal Farm own the Doberman puppies, and those puppies aren't puppies any more.
September 24, 2008 9:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
"however unintentional that may be."
Jerzeyblues, you seem to know more than some of us, but this statement seems a bit naive.
This is just too big to be "unintentional."
September 24, 2008 9:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
The Guard is qualified to do all of those things - that is the stateside mission. What's more, they come under state control during emergencies, so that is where they are able to get around posse comitatus. They are only federalized for overseas deployments.
The active Army, on the other hand, is federal - I was disturbed by the deployment of the 82nd Airborne to New Orleans, as well (another extralegal byproduct of our overuse of the Guard.)
It's not as simple as just bringing home the Guard - that will probably take over a year, because it's a big process. Everything and everybody has to be moved out of Iraq and into Kuwait, then flown back. Never mind the potential political consequences if people get all riled up and say hey, we're losing, let's put those troops back in the fight and win (no doubt aided and abetted by the Republicans, who seem to like this kind of thing.)
Anyway, I don't think it's particularly naive to take this at face value. I think the overall intent is to protect the "safety" and "liberty" of the American populace. The thing is, G.W. Bush and you (and I) have some very different ideas when it comes to safety and liberty.
September 24, 2008 12:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have, over the last three years interviewed a handful of young men recently out of the service who, on their resumes, list their combat service along with a paragraph revealing that they were snipers. I don't know what others in my position feel when interviewing these young men as I haven't spoken about it to anybody else but, these guys scare the shit out of me. There are more and more of these veterans seeking work while at the same time displaying a certain level of frustration with the civilian economic conditions here at home.
What if I hired and then subsequently had to fire one of these ex-snipers!!!!
I was interviewing one young veteran in my office. During that interview the large steel shear was activated on the shop floor and began shearing a piece of 1/4 inch steel which subsequently dropped to the floor with the typical loud clang. The young man just about hit the ceiling in terror.
Now MY country is mobilizing MY army within MY country? WTF!
I know this post isn't directly on topic but it's what came into my mind upon reading this blog. It's getting real weird out there. We used to joke about somebody going "postal". Soon, it's going to be a joke about going "Bagdad" and it isn't going to be funny.
September 24, 2008 10:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
Your compassion is really touching.
What a revolting attitude you have. Your country, for reasons you or I may not agree with, authorized and then ordered one of *our* sons to become a killer in the uniform of his country and the best you can do is be afraid of him. Thanks. You are a stand-up guy.
Maybe instead of being a selfish jerk, you can ask yourself how can you help that kid.
September 24, 2008 10:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
Trust me. What I see displayed in these kids is truly frightening. My compassion has nothing to do with it. They display some extraordinary responses and attitudes that, in my opinion, are a potential danger to not only myself personally but also the people they would be working alongside. Not only do I have young children but, so do my employees. Those children need their fathers too.
The help I think these vets need is far beyond and outside of not only my knowledge base but also my ability to protect those who work for me that I am also responsible for.
One young vet told me that he was, in the matter of a few days, released from the army with a clean bill of health after having been in the Battle of Faluja (sp?) just 35 or so days prior to my meeting him. He obviously, and seriously, needed professional attention. Not offering him the job scared me as much as hiring him.
Before you go off all half-cocked and continue to judge me, you need also to consider my responsibilities to the safety of my other employees. If anything, rather than judge my visceral feelings of fear coming out of these interviews perhaps your negative judgements of me would be better placed in putting that energy into demanding that the Military provide the psychological services these vets desperately need before letting them go to prevent further tragedy from occurring.
It's post Viet Nam all over again. The fact that we are in close election to against a veteran who suffered deeply and before PTSD was even defined as an illness and, who refuses to release his medical records in a meaningful way is just unbelievable to me.
September 24, 2008 11:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
My porior was for you. My sentiments exactly. I have a brother that was in Nam. He still has some problems. McCain really gives me the willys. LOL
September 24, 2008 2:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
"the best you can do is be afraid of him."
No, the best he can do is warn others that this phenomenon occurs... Econ, you are the serlfish, insensitive one here, not mjeffen.
We need to know the psycholigical satus of anyone who suffered through this war, instead of ignoring or avoiding these issues, we need more people like mjeffen who are willing to open up that necessary dualogue.
You, Econ, seem more of a prevaricator or provocateur here than a concerned citizen.
I for one appreciate mjeffen's candor, it is clearly an attempt to get the message out that some of our returning soldiers need more help BEFORE they get dismissed from their duty than they are currently getting.
September 24, 2008 11:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
Perhaps Cheney and Co. are expecting riots after the election?
September 24, 2008 10:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
And a couple years back I read how they've trained pastors to urge their flocks to "obey the troops."
http://www.infowars.com/articles/ps/feds_train_clergy_to_quell_dissent_during_martial_law.htm
http://dianarn.wordpress.com/2007/08/22/is-your-pastor-one-of-them/
Scary stuff!
September 24, 2008 10:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
Is there a website that has your e-mail address on it? I have some information I am trying to get to people who I have learned to trust from this website.
September 24, 2008 5:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry, Jane. There's no website for me.
September 24, 2008 7:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe there will be private messaging here again - eventually.
September 24, 2008 7:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
How can I print this article. All I get is a blank page. I want to take to the Obama Office, I am working some Military people. They didn't believe me when I told them about this last night.
It's kindof scarye isn't it? Marshall Law anoybody in October?
September 24, 2008 2:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
If you can't print it off of here, follow these steps. I hope this helps.
(1) Open MS Word or some other word processing program you have.
(2) Come back to this window.
(3) Left-click and drag your mouse over the body of text in the original post. The selected text will likely be highlighted in dark blue.
(4) Hit Ctrl-C on your keyboard to copy all the text you selected.
(5) Go back to your word processor window.
(6) Hit Ctrl-V on your keyboard to paste the copied text into the word processor.
(7) Check the pasted text for unwanted indents, paragraph run-ons, and other formatting issues.
(8) Print.
September 24, 2008 4:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
My sentiments exactly.
September 24, 2008 2:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
I, for one, welcome our new republican overlords.
September 24, 2008 2:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
October 1 is the first day of the Defense Department fiscal year.
September 24, 2008 2:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
We are doomed if nothing is done about this. Sounds a little over the top, but this is a bad precedent. We need to throw the bumns out of office, then hold to the fire the feet of the new bums.
September 24, 2008 2:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
It sounds like martial law is coming, after that little preview we saw at the conventions.
So, are we getting another election stolen, after which we storm Washington? After which they turn the Army on us, and haul us off to KBR internment camps which are "at the ready"?
Do they really think they can "install" McCain/Painful on Jan. 20, 2009?
Not this time.
And wonder of wonders, the old Yankee Stadium will be empty and ready for use as an interim "holding tank" until we are all processed in NY. Fun stuff.
September 24, 2008 4:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
This seems like it's legal - but it's thisclose to the line.
Rec'd for information. We should keep our eyes peeled for more stuff like this, especially as the election approaches.
September 24, 2008 4:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
"clearthinker" posted a link to the Wikipedia entry (always a good starting point) on the Posse Comitatus Act:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posse_Comitatus_Act
and quoted from that page that the John Warner 2006 bill provisions had been repealed in 2008.
However, George W. apparently accompanied the 2008 bill with one of his famous signing statements (this is from the Wikipedia entry):
"Provisions of the Act, including sections 841, 846, 1079, and 1222, purport to impose requirements that could inhibit the President's ability to carry out his constitutional obligations to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, to protect national security, to supervise the executive branch, and to execute his authority as Commander in Chief. The executive branch shall construe such provisions in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the President."
Obviously he didn't write that himself. Maybe Addington did. Who knows what either one of them means by those words? Nothing for the greater good of the USA.
Re the discussion of PTSD, the New Yorker's current issue has a poignant story about a Marine suffering from severe PTSD:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/09/29/080929fa_fact_finnegan?printable=true
September 24, 2008 8:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
This development has been in the works for months and is consistent with a number of relatively recent presidential executive orders, the revamping of the intelligence services to fall under greater military control, and the shift by contractors like Blackwater and DynCorp to a greater emphasis on domestic missions. No surprises here, just wait until next month and November for the real ugliness to begin. After all, McCain did "temporarily" suspend his campaign, right?
September 24, 2008 9:04 PM | Reply | Permalink