posse comitatus
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.
September 26th, 2008 at 9:35 am
Bah. My first impression is: Lets give the guys who’ve spent years overseas a nice posting close to home for a while. Plus, I don’t trust the Canadians. They’re gettin’ restless.
must be global warming. Or gas prices. Or … mayonaise… I dunno. I just don’t trust the maple leafy weirdos.
September 26th, 2008 at 11:36 am
I have a relative in NorthCom, helping on various planning exercises for homeland security, disaster preparedness, and other “worst case” scenarios. He says it is an interesting posting. I hope he never has to unseal any of his contingency plans for a real event.
As for the 1st of the 3rd, they do indeed have a 12 month stay-at-home posting. Considering how battle-hardened they are, there is no hope for anyone or anything they would face, including a full hurricane, a massive earthquake, an erupting volcano, or a sudden uprising of every anarchist and hippie from California to Florida…. Of course, the last item could be handled by Andy Griffith with some help from Barney and Aunt Bea.
September 26th, 2008 at 11:37 am
That’s ominous… Not a good thing no matter how you look at it.
September 26th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Well, the Demis are threatening a class war if their chosen one doesn’t win. And a “friend” of his does have experience in developing and deploying IEDs.
Where are they stationed, outside Chicago?
I mean, if we’re going to get all freaked out paranoid, let’s have a plausible storyline.
September 26th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Achtung!
Present your papers, please!
September 26th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
I dunno… mabie I’m outta line…
September 27th, 2008 at 9:42 am
No, Bobby, I don’t think you are out of line. Look to history and you will see that you are not.