Military Seeks To Boost Domestic Security

Washington Post: Pentagon Expects To Have 20,000 Uniformed Troops Inside The U.S. By 2011

(Washington Post)  This story was written by Spencer S. Hsu and Ann Scott Tyson.

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The U.S. military expects to have 20,000 uniformed troops inside the United States by 2011 trained to help state and local officials respond to a nuclear terrorist attack or other domestic catastrophe, according to Pentagon officials.

The long-planned shift in the Defense Department's role in homeland security was recently backed with funding and troop commitments after years of prodding by Congress and outside experts, defense analysts said.

There are critics of the change, in the military and among civil liberties groups and libertarians who express concern that the new homeland emphasis threatens to strain the military and possibly undermine the Posse Comitatus Act, a 130-year-old federal law restricting the military's role in domestic law enforcement.

But the Bush administration and some in Congress have pushed for a heightened homeland military role since the middle of this decade, saying the greatest domestic threat is terrorists exploiting the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, dedicating 20,000 troops to domestic response -- a nearly sevenfold increase in five years -- "would have been extraordinary to the point of unbelievable," Paul McHale, assistant defense secretary for homeland defense, said in remarks last month at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. But the realization that civilian authorities may be overwhelmed in a catastrophe prompted "a fundamental change in military culture," he said.

The Pentagon's plan calls for three rapid-reaction forces to be ready for emergency response by September 2011. The first 4,700-person unit, built around an active-duty combat brigade based at Fort Stewart, Ga., was available as of Oct. 1, said Gen. Victor E. Renuart Jr., commander of the U.S. Northern Command.

If funding continues, two additional teams will join nearly 80 smaller National Guard and reserve units made up of about 6,000 troops in supporting local and state officials nationwide. All would be trained to respond to a domestic chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or high-yield explosive attack, or CBRNE event, as the military calls it.

Military preparations for a domestic weapon-of-mass-destruction attack have been underway since at least 1996, when the Marine Corps activated a 350-member chemical and biological incident response force and later based it in Indian Head, Md., a Washington suburb. Such efforts accelerated after the Sept. 11 attacks, and at the time Iraq was invaded in 2003, a Pentagon joint task force drew on 3,000 civil support personnel across the United States.

In 2005, a new Pentagon homeland defense strategy emphasized "preparing for multiple, simultaneous mass casualty incidents." National security threats were not limited to adversaries who seek to grind down U.S. combat forces abroad, McHale said, but also include those who "want to inflict such brutality on our society that we give up the fight," such as by detonating a nuclear bomb in a U.S. city.

In late 2007, Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England signed a directive approving more than $556 million over five years to set up the three response teams, known as CBRNE Consequence Management Response Forces. Planners assume an incident could lead to thousands of casualties, more than 1 million evacuees and contamination of as many as 3,000 square miles, about the scope of damage Hurricane Katrina caused in 2005.

Last month, McHale said, authorities agreed to begin a $1.8 million pilot project funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency through which civilian authorities in five states could tap military planners to develop disaster response plans. Hawaii, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Washington and West Virginia will each focus on a particular threat -- pandemic flu, a terrorist attack, hurricane, earthquake and catastrophic chemical release, respectively -- speeding up federal and state emergency planning begun in 2003.

Last Monday, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates ordered defense officials to review whether the military, Guard and reserves can respond adequately to domestic disasters.

Gates gave commanders 25 days to propose changes and cost estimates. He cited the work of a congressionally chartered commission, which concluded in January that the Guard and reserve forces are not ready and that they lack equipment and training.

Bert B. Tussing, director of homeland defense and security issues at the U.S. Army War College's Center for Strategic Leadership, said the new Pentagon approach "breaks the mold" by assigning an active-duty combat brigade to the Northern Command for the first time. Until now, the military required the command to rely on troops requested from other sources.

"This is a genuine recognition that this [job] isn't something that you want to have a pickup team responsible for," said Tussing, who has assessed the military's homeland security strategies.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the libertarian Cato Institute are troubled by what they consider an expansion of executive authority.

Domestic emergency deployment may be "just the first example of a series of expansions in presidential and military authority," or even an increase in domestic surveillance, said Anna Christensen of the ACLU's National Security Project. And Cato Vice President Gene Healy warned of "a creeping militarization" of homeland security.

"There's a notion that whenever there's an important problem, that the thing to do is to call in the boys in green," Healy said, "and that's at odds with our long-standing tradition of being wary of the use of standing armies to keep the peace."

McHale stressed that the response units will be subject to the act, that only 8 percent of their personnel will be responsible for security and that their duties will be to protect the force, not other law enforcement. For decades, the military has assigned larger units to respond to civil disturbances, such as during the Los Angeles riot in 1992.

U.S. forces are already under heavy strain, however. The first reaction force is built around the Army's 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team, which returned in April after 15 months in Iraq. The team includes operations, aviation and medical task forces that are to be ready to deploy at home or overseas within 48 hours, with units specializing in chemical decontamination, bomb disposal, emergency care and logistics.

The one-year domestic mission, however, does not replace the brigade's next scheduled combat deployment in 2010. The brigade may get additional time in the United States to rest and regroup, compared with other combat units, but it may also face more training and operational requirements depending on its homeland security assignments.

Renuart said the Pentagon is accounting for the strain of fighting two wars, and the need for troops to spend time with their families. "We want to make sure the parameters are right for Iraq and Afghanistan," he said. The 1st Brigade's soldiers "will have some very aggressive training, but will also be home for much of that."

Although some Pentagon leaders initially expected to build the next two response units around combat teams, they are likely to be drawn mainly from reserves and the National Guard, such as the 218th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade from South Carolina, which returned in May after more than a year in Afghanistan.

Now that Pentagon strategy gives new priority to homeland security and calls for heavier reliance on the Guard and reserves, McHale said, Washington has to figure out how to pay for it.

"It's one thing to decide upon a course of action, and it's something else to make it happen," he said. "It's time to put our money where our mouth is."

[kansas1946]

There are critics of the change, in the military and among civil liberties groups and libertarians who express concern that the new homeland emphasis threatens to strain the military and possibly undermine the Posse Comitatus Act, a 130-year-old federal law restricting the military''s role in domestic law enforcement.

But the Bush administration and some in Congress have pushed for a heightened homeland military role since the middle of this decade, saying the greatest domestic threat is terrorists exploiting the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

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Of course the Bush adminstration is pushing this. There is absolutely nothing about American values that Bush and his evil administration has not tried to destroy. This is a very bad idea and needs to be stopped immediately. We do not want the military funtioning inside our borders unless we are actually being invaded. The military has no authority over civilians and should''t. There are reasons that those protections were put in place. GWB. Worst president in the history of the US.

[chrisbieber]

gradually and LEGALLY marching to the abolition of our country/constitutional republic and the imposition of a militaristic society and culture(see "Rules of Engagement"!!! below!) with the added BONUS of a hitech surveillance state...
this is PURE Bipartisanship Fabian Socialism...
same shi* different shovel...a bipartisan Hobson''s Choice...with the American sheeple obliviously giving the "stamp of approval" on the government AS IT IS and what IT will be doing...on all Americans...good AND hard..by CONDONING the charade by VOTING.

Are you and your family ready for what is about to happen to America(YOUR little world?)??????

Change and Hope....

[cfin5]

Posted by yongamerica at 05:05 PM : Dec 01, 2008---- You are correct. We already have a bureau for that called FEMA. But some some media touted mystery,....that''s not quite good enough for the globalist demopublican party. They create the problems to come up with the solutions. That is how the "9th. Amendment gets unconstitutionally legislated around. Two generations of "CONSTITUTIONAL IGNORANT DUMBKOPFS" have served them well.

[yongamerica]

The military should not be in charge of responding to national disasters. A civilian organization operating within the stricter confines of the constitution and state police laws needs to be doing this. Not the Army.

[yongamerica]

It is time to return full control of the National Guard Units back to their states. The National Guard has no business fighting on foreign soil. Their initial purpose was to give each state a militia that could respond to a federal Government going out of control.

Gates is steering the US Military out of its primary mission and into national police similar to the function of the Chinese Army.

[yongamerica]

This proposal is outside the scope of US Armed Forces. The Armed Forces should focus on a real war and not terrorist acts within the US boarders. Wasn''t that the job of Homeland Security? I know Homeland Security is a joke, but positioning US Armed Forces for the sole purpose of shooting citizens in the US is unconstitutional. The national guard does plenty of that already.

[candy-apple]

had me going until they mentioned FEMA!!

[impeach___w]

Currently, FBI agents need specific reasons - like evidence or allegations that a law probably has been violated - to investigate U.S. citizens and legal residents. The new policy, law enforcement officials told The Associated Press, would let agents open preliminary terrorism investigations after mining public records and intelligence to build a profile of traits that, taken together, were deemed suspicious. Among the factors that could make someone subject of an investigation is travel to regions of the world known for terrorist activity, access to weapons or military training, along with the person''''s race or ethnicity.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/07/0
3/national/main4229431.shtml

[hatesthecolt]

more reason everyone needs to own a gun, the higher caliber and more rounds per second, the better

Posted by getoffmine1

Yeah, THAT''s what we need...

[impeach___w]

The Posse Comitatus Act was already repealed by Congress, Oct.17,2006, under the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 (another piece of treason by the Bush Admin.), and repealed in 2008.

We don''t believe in Bush or his policies- He was just a bad nightmare

[impeach___w]

no one will save you
posted by MrMeatSpin

I''ll be saving myself, friends, family and neighbors. The question is who will save you?

[jackp32]

Is that McHale guy the same one in charge of McHale''s Navy? I feel safer already.

[jackp32]

Have any of you seen the movie Seven Days in May? Well that day has arrived.

[mrmeatspin]

How can Obama be blamed for this? Blame him if they are deployed here. Look at thier mission, you don''''t want them taking over your town!


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Posted by impeach___w at 11:18 AM : Dec 01, 2008
+ report abuse


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ahh because this plan will be implemented UNDER OBAMA''s tenure..and the kinetic energy create by liberals in terms of killing any effort on our war on terrorism..

when attack does happen..you can whine as much as you can..no one will save you

[bobnjersey]

[But the Bush administration and some in Congress have pushed for a heightened homeland military role since the middle of this decade, saying the greatest domestic threat is terrorists exploiting the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. ]

they wouldn''t be using the fear of the ''mushroom cloud'' to get others to go along with their idiotic plans ... would they? i''d be suspicious if this ''wmd bluster'' had happened in the past.

just place a soldier with every family ... keep tabs on them ... and this way they''ll be there in the event of an emergency ... to protect them ... of course.

it''s for their own protection.

[lochlan-2009]

more reason everyone needs to own a gun, the higher caliber and more rounds per second, the better

Posted by getoffmine1

The first thing they are going to ban is the possesion, sale, transportation, and transfer of all non-sporting firearms within (30) days. Look up Twenty-Nine Palms, questionaire and go to question 46.

The NAZI''s finally have the technology to dominate the world.

[lochlan-2009]

The Posse Comitatus Act was already repealed by Congress, Oct.17,2006, under the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 (another piece of treason by the Bush Admin.), and repealed in 2008. To all you Americans who believe that 20,000 troops to help police, Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security and the National Guard keep control of the people is a good thing, please pack your bags and leave, as you are not Americans. You would gladly give up liberty for the illusion of safety. There is a quote from our founding fathers for you.

This is the equivelant of the police surrounding you in your house so they can "protect you". Don''t worry, you haven''t done anything wrong (atleast you better not) and of course we''ll tell you, now that you are surrounded, what NOW is right and wrong, "this is for your own safety".

[getoffmine1]

more reason everyone needs to own a gun, the higher caliber and more rounds per second, the better

[impeach___w]

I forgot to Add that any armed military contractors that are deployed will be dealt with most severely.

FEMA better have learned a lesson something from Katrina.

[impeach___w]

Martial law has no business in the US. It is as un-American a communism. The Military is not to be used on cililians. They do not folloW the same laws we do and have no accountability. We have a national guard and enough armed citizens to do what needs to be done do Protect our Civil Rights over Martial law. I feel this is more important than any of the events described in this article that would supposedly require these Forces. We are fighting a wars with not enough forces and bushco wants to station them here?

How can Obama be blamed for this? Blame him if they are deployed here. Look at thier mission, you don''t want them taking over your town!