Combat Support for the Streets of America

RestoreTheRepublic.com | by Michael LeMieux | The military of our great nation is comprised of many varied skill sets that allow our military leaders to construct the precise tools to accomplish any mission given them. When I was involved in humanitarian missions in Somalia we were accompanied by medical personal, construction personnel and their equipment, etc. After all you would not send a construction battalion to meet the medical needs of a village.

In an article posted in the Colorado Springs Gazette on October 9^th; the writer lauded NORTHCOM’s attainment of 4,000 full time “combat” soldiers to support their mission in the United States. He stated that NORTHCOM came about “after the Sept. 11 attacks to coordinate the military response to everything from the aftermath of hurricanes to nuclear fallout.” He went on to say that the brigade has “been training to back up civilian authorities in providing medical care and dealing with chemical, biologic, high explosive or nuclear attack.” (CBRNE)

Having spent a career in the military I know for a fact that we have specialists in these fields already trained and proficient in the area of medical care and with dealing with chemical, biological, high explosive or nuclear attack. So why would we need to train combat soldiers in these other fields?

This Gazette article did not stipulate why they did not use personnel or units that were already trained in these fields however, again from my past military experience, when putting together a specific unit to meet specific needs of a mission you start with the base requirement of that mission and then add the specific additional skills that are required to support the mission.

In this case the commanders have determined the base need to support this mission; the skill set that would provide the commander with the greatest probability of success to accomplish the stated goals of the command, was a “combat” brigade.

The question that comes immediately to my mind is what are we preparing for? What does this government expect is going to happen that we are required to have a combat brigade ready at a moments notice to ply their wares within the four corners of this nation?

Add to this announcement the fact that earlier this year NORTHCOM signed the CANCOM (Canadian Command) agreement that authorized the use of Canadian troops on U.S. soil for exactly the same stated reasons.

We also know that each and every state in the Union have, at the Governors orders, the National Guard. Each governor also has the ability to request National Guard troops from neighboring states if they feel it is warranted. We have done it in the past with wild fires, flooding, and other natural disasters. Each state has trained medical personnel, explosives, and nuclear fallout trained personnel already in place. Combine this with the ability of the President to call up any number of additional troops to meet emerging needs, or to call out the Constitutional Militia for that matter, there seem to be more than enough troops and personnel to meet nearly any need.

The Gazette article goes on to point out that the tanks and fighting vehicles would not need to be used. This begs the question asked earlier, if you don’t need the expertise of the unit you chose then why was this unit chose over others better suited to the espoused mission? That is of course if we are not being told the entire scope of the mission and those skills are indeed needed. We have seen military equipment (tanks and fighting vehicles) used in America before, remember Janet Reno’s Waco fiasco, where hundreds of US citizens, (men, women, and children) were killed.

One axiom to remember is that nothing happens in Washington by accident. If they chose a combat unit to be the base unit for operations within this country, it is because they expect the skill set that is brought to bear is what is needed to fulfill the mission objective, period.

You do not use combat soldiers for medical aid you use a medical unit. You do not use combat troops for cleaning up after a natural disaster, you use a construction battalion. You do not use combat troops to respond to CBRNE incidents you use those personnel trained to do so.

The bottom line is, you select the tool that gives you the greatest chance of success for your mission.

Michael LeMieux is a retired U.S. Army intelligence and imagery analyst, and has served combat tours in Kuwait and Afghanistan with the 19^th Special Forces. He is a Purple Heart recipient for injuries received in Afghanistan. Mr. LeMieux is the author of Unalienable Rights and the denial of the U.S. Constitution, published by Publish America and a regular writer for Republic Magazine. You can contact Mr. LeMieux via his website at www.constitutiondenied.com.