http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/army_homeland_090708w/

Brigade homeland tours start Oct. 1
3rd Infantry’s 1st BCT trains for a new dwell-time mission. Helping ‘people at home’ may become a permanent part of the active Army
By Gina Cavallaro - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Sep 8, 2008 6:15:06 EDT

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.

It is not the first time an active-duty unit has been tapped to help at home. In August 2005, for example, when Hurricane Katrina unleashed hell in Mississippi and Louisiana, several active-duty units were pulled from various posts and mobilized to those areas.

But this new mission marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to NorthCom, a joint command established in 2002 to provide command and control for federal homeland defense efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities.

After 1st BCT finishes its dwell-time mission, expectations are that another, as yet unnamed, active-duty brigade will take over and that the mission will be 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.�

The command is at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo., but the soldiers with 1st BCT, who returned in April after 15 months in Iraq, will operate out of their home post at Fort Stewart, Ga., where they’ll be able to go to school, spend time with their families and train for their new homeland mission as well as the counterinsurgency mission in the war zones.

Stop-loss will not be in effect, so soldiers will be able to leave the Army or move to new assignments during the mission, and the operational tempo will be variable.

Don’t look for any extra time off, though. The at-home mission does not take the place of scheduled combat-zone deployments and will take place during the so-called dwell time a unit gets to reset and regenerate after a deployment.

The 1st of the 3rd is still scheduled to deploy to either Iraq or Afghanistan in early 2010, which means the soldiers will have been home a minimum of 20 months by the time they ship out.

In the meantime, they’ll learn new skills, use some of the ones they acquired in the war zone and more than likely will not be shot at while doing any of it.

They may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive, or CBRNE, attack.

Training for homeland scenarios has already begun at Fort Stewart and includes specialty tasks such as knowing how to use the “jaws of life� to extract a person from a mangled vehicle; extra medical training for a CBRNE incident; and working with U.S. Forestry Service experts on how to go in with chainsaws and cut and clear trees to clear a road or area.

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.

“It’s a new modular package of nonlethal capabilities that they’re fielding. They’ve been using pieces of it in Iraq, but this is the first time that these modules were consolidated and this package fielded, and because of this mission we’re undertaking we were the first to get it.�

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.

“I was the first guy in the brigade to get Tasered,� said Cloutier, describing the experience as “your worst muscle cramp ever — times 10 throughout your whole body.

“I’m not a small guy, I weigh 230 pounds ... it put me on my knees in seconds.�

The brigade will not change its name, but the force will be known for the next year as a CBRNE Consequence Management Response Force, or CCMRF (pronounced “sea-smurf�).

“I can’t think of a more noble mission than this,� said Cloutier, who took command in July. “We’ve been all over the world during this time of conflict, but now our mission is to take care of citizens at home ... and depending on where an event occurred, you’re going home to take care of your home town, your loved ones.�

While soldiers’ combat training is applicable, he said, some nuances don’t apply.

“If we go in, we’re going in to help American citizens on American soil, to save lives, provide critical life support, help clear debris, restore normalcy and support whatever local agencies need us to do, so it’s kind of a different role,� said Cloutier, who, as the division operations officer on the last rotation, learned of the homeland mission a few months ago while they were still in Iraq.

Some brigade elements will be on call around the clock, during which time they’ll do their regular marksmanship, gunnery and other deployment training. That’s because the unit will continue to train and reset for the next deployment, even as it serves in its CCMRF mission.

Should personnel be needed at an earthquake in California, for example, all or part of the brigade could be scrambled there, depending on the extent of the need and the specialties involved.
Other branches included

The active Army’s new dwell-time mission is part of a NorthCom and DOD response package.

Active-duty soldiers will be part of a force that includes elements from other military branches and dedicated National Guard Weapons of Mass Destruction-Civil Support Teams.

A final mission rehearsal exercise is scheduled for mid-September at Fort Stewart and will be run by Joint Task Force Civil Support, a unit based out of Fort Monroe, Va., that will coordinate and evaluate the interservice event.

In addition to 1st BCT, other Army units will take part in the two-week training exercise, including elements of the 1st Medical Brigade out of Fort Hood, Texas, and the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade from Fort Bragg, N.C.

There also will be Air Force engineer and medical units, the Marine Corps Chemical, Biological Initial Reaction Force, a Navy weather team and members of the Defense Logistics Agency and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

One of the things Vogler said they’ll be looking at is communications capabilities between the services.

“It is a concern, and we’re trying to check that and one of the ways we do that is by having these sorts of exercises. Leading up to this, we are going to rehearse and set up some of the communications systems to make sure we have interoperability,� he said.

“I don’t know what America’s overall plan is — I just know that 24 hours a day, seven days a week, there are soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines that are standing by to come and help if they’re called,� Cloutier said. “It makes me feel good as an American to know that my country has dedicated a force to come in and help the people at home.�

I don't know about you, but that seems pretty fucking reasonable.

Read all of it.....

I have. Did you?

I have a problem with this. National guard and civilian police are responsible for this;

They may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive, or CBRNE, attack.

This is the first phase of the "October Surprise" mentioned nearly 2 weeks ago. It's going to spread...

And on their own they've done a stellar job so far, haven't they.

I'm sure if you asked anyone hit by Katrina or Ike if they wouldn't mind the extra help. It's so easy to say no to things when you're not the one who needs the help.

by that rationale do you think that the military is anticipating more natural disasters?

Then you don't understand the ramifications of using federal troops for civilian purposes.

http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/53685.pdf

this comes to mind;
link

also i'm having some issue finding the article about a child shot on the border.

Like using Federal Troops to make sure blacks could vote in the South after the Civil War? Was that a bad thing?

Like using Federal Troops to protect the Little Rock Nine? Was that bad too? Was that wrong?

If your house gets leveled by a hurricane do you care if the people helping you are national guard troops or federal army troops? Do you think anyone who just suffered through Ike care?

If you ask any of the soldiers being redeployed back home I'm sure they'd rather 'serve a tour' at home instead of in Iraq.

Border Patrol =/= Federal Army

Nice try though.

yes it does when its national guardsmen.

and you didn't answer^

Perhaps you could be so kind as to quote exactly where in that article it says that the kid as run over by a National Guardsman.

Oh that's right, he wasn't.

The Border Patrol is a civilian law enforcement agency, not US Army, not National Guard.

You're not?

Did you think mother nature would stop after Katrina because she was being too mean?

Do you think she'll stop after Ike?

You think the tectonic plates under California are going to stop moving?

You think tornado alley will stop having wind?

You think Florida will stop falling into the sea every year?

You don't forsee natural disasters in the future? What planet do you live on?

National Guard are ordered by the Govenor of that state. It isn't Federal.

it was a question, back the hell off.

my point is that this comes from an administration that refuses to believe that we have a climate crisis.
why on earth would the military suddenly do "tours" to help with that when clearly this administration refuses to see it as a problem?

"The 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team" doesn't sound like national gaurdsmen.

I find this response interesting. Yes after the Civil War there was a need to insure order and to assure all the citizens were accorded their rights, the south was at that time an occupied territory and as such under control of the federal government until order could be restored. That was then and this is now, we as of yet are not in a civil war.

For reasons of protecting civil rights the 101st airborne division was sent to Little Rock due to the lack of will by the local police to assist in the integration of schools in Little Rock Ark again a special conditions event and their deployment only lasted for two weeks.

As for natural disasters that is what we have National Guard for and it's not that which concerns me it's the crowd control and other aspects of control that you have conveniently ignored. Not to mention who has control responsibilities over these troops. Unless you are comfortable with a military police state. I for one am not.

That's what I'm saying, and reading some of the equipment they are being deployed with make me wonder if we're not going to be guinea pigs for their new weapons of war.

lol military police state

You're mental. Maybe we didn't read the same article but that's not how their responsibilities were described.

They're not there to augment or assist law enforcement. Their responsibilities were what? -- or right

change of heart?

i don't see it. our military is stretched thin as is, and with that why would they do "tours" of home?

, this is what I don't like and I'm not comfortable with...

thought it was a link to an incident that occurred on the border when guardsmen patrolled under bush sr.
and it wasn't.

Excuse me but we have a wicked paramilitary presense in this country when the Air Force and Army are training local police, using their equipment and conducting joint North American Union operations (aka NORTHCOM) in our skies and marines training for urban warfare in cities across the country, intimidating American civilians by their presense.

Who are YOU laughing at?

newbie threads TM Carmen

what?

I wouldn't read to much into it.

They're probably preparing for riots if there is a recession or a depression.

I hope not.

*KNOCK ON WOOD*.

see and that's the thing, the way that it looks from they're gear it appears to be crowd control as a focus.
spooky, but i want to research more before i make a conclusion.
and my luck with research is bad right now, (obviously )
although it would be great if they anticipated climate issues, i just don't see it.

So what now? The police are too intimidating? They're supposed to be intimidating. That's why they have guns and batons and badges. What do you want now? No police?

You want them to carry flowers instead?

Marines are training for Urban Warfare in what cities? Toledo? Toledo, Ohio where the mayor essentially said, "yeah no, you can't do that in this city," and then the Marines went somewhere else?

Also NORTHCOM =/= North American Union. ffs

Why would they test it on us when they have two countries where testing it would at least fall inside the realm of semi-reasonable?

True, hindsight is 20/20.

Yes, most definitely do more research before you make a decision.

your the smart guy you tell me...I'm mental remember

It was a rhetorical question.

The answer is, "they wouldn't," smart guy.

Alright, both of you knock it off before you get sent to separate corners! No more name calling either, that was uncalled for jkun17. Enough of that, debate the content, not the person.

And so martial law is instituted, the fascist state begins, and revolt soon follows... bretheren, let us all join hands

i don't think it will get that far.
or were you being facetious?

Lest we forget:

"The Kent State shootings, also known as the May 4 massacre or Kent State massacre occurred at Kent State University in the city of Kent, Ohio, and involved the shooting of students by members of the Ohio National Guard on Monday, May 4, 1970. Four students were killed and nine others were wounded, one of whom suffered permanent paralysis.

Some of the students who were shot had been protesting against the American invasion of Cambodia, which President Richard Nixon announced in a television address on April 30. However, other students who were shot had merely been walking nearby or observing the protest from a distance.

There was a significant national response to the shootings: hundreds of universities, colleges, and high schools closed throughout the United States due to a student strike of eight million students, and the event further divided the country, at this already socially contentious time, along political lines."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_State_shootings

I know the article said they'd be equipped with non-lethal weapons, but setting people trained to kill to manage civil disobedience is an accident waiting to happen.

Has anyone mentioned Black Water or CACI? I think they are already part of the neo-con goon squad if I'm not mistaken.

I suppose the police are trained to hug and cuddle.

A child holding a sharpened pencil is an accident waiting to happen.

Waking up in the morning is an accident waiting to happen.

There are legitimate reasons for both just as there are legitimate reasons for having an extra battalion of soldiers ready to be deployed into disaster areas. Katrina was a fucking wreck, Ike is too. Ask anyone who still lives or lived in New Orleans if they would have liked more help after the Hurricane.

I worked in the relief centers during the So Cal fire last year, every one of them would have taken any help they could get.

Like I said, it's so easy to deny others help when you're not the one who needs it.

and if the Louisiana National Guard were there instead of in Iraq then they would have been there to help. Taking help is one thing, what is asked in return is another.

Or if Obama wins and George W. decides to stick around. This is a rather interesting time to start bringing troops in.

I don't like it.

Yes they would have been. But they're not there, so why not have another group of soldiers step in to help.

You're stepping over all your points.

part facetintootilecious... part intrigued...

Regarding Martial law, we are not there yet.

If anything they might get away with that crap in front of government buildings and in big cities, but your kids are not going to start dropping 500LB bombs on their parents homes. They're not stupid, and they swore an oath to protect against domestic terrorism. (unlike our oath breaking leaders) If it came to that point, the corrupt leaders in government itself would end up being the target, which considering all the damage to our constitution would be quite justified.

Of course there's always the Alex Jones theory. And I don't know what all those FEMA camps are for. They could be for us. I don't know.

Anyway, certainly the use of the military on civilians in city streets has got to be breaking some law.


Don't hate me for my opinion, Alex Jones makes a pretty good argument, but I was also in the USAF myself, I know the type of people that are military, they don't want to come home to dead parents.

Should you keep your weapons clean? Absolutely. Should you prepare for having food and water on your own? Absolutely.

All I am saying here is we are not there yet.

Put the weapons away, calm down, have a whiskey and coke.

So don't do something stupid, cause we need you to root out the corruption in our government, and we can't do that if your dead now can we?

Part of this is a MIND WAR. Keep control of yours.

I thank Brad Friedman for personally helping me understand this.

There's psychological operatives out there that would be more than happy to set you up (by stirring up your emotion) and put you on a list, or get you to do or say things that are stupid.

PLEASE BE CAREFUL.

Peace

~phil

No the difference is in regular army and reserves. National Guard has historically been called in to assist in National emergencies not our regular armed forces. The problem the governor of Louisiana had in allowing federal troops in to assist in Karina was she would have relinquished control of her state to the federal government.
Are you prepared to relinquish police control of your area to the federal government? Be careful what price you pay for the help you get.