scary part is, anybody saying no to the search will be the first to get searched when the real thing happens...
Posted on 02/22/2009 7:50:48 AM PST by atomic_dog
The Carroll National Guard unit will train on urban military operations by holding a four-day exercise at Arcadia.
The purpose of the April 2-5 drill will be to gather intelligence, then search for and apprehend a suspected weapons dealer, according to Sgt. Mike Kots, readiness NCO for Alpha Company.
Citizens, law enforcement, media and other supporters will participate.
Troops will spend Thursday, April 2, staging at a forward operations base at Carroll. The next day company leaders will conduct reconnaissance and begin patrolling the streets of Arcadia to identify possible locations of the weapons dealer.
The primary phase will be done Saturday, April 4, when convoys will be deployed from Carroll to Arcadia. Pictures of the arms dealer will be shown in Arcadia, and soldiers will go door to door asking if residents have seen the suspect.
Soldiers will knock only at households that have agreed to participate in the drill, Kots noted.
"Once credible intelligence has been gathered," said Kots, "portions of the town will be road-blocked and more in-depth searches of homes and vehicles will be conducted in accordance with the residents' wishes.
"One of the techniques we use in today's political environment is cordon and knock," Kots explained. "We ask for the head of the household, get permission to search, then have them open doors and cupboards. The homeowner maintains control. We peer over their shoulder, and the soldier uses the homeowner's body language and position to protect him."
During this phase of the operation, troops will interact with residents and media while implementing crowd-control measures and possibly treating and evacuating injured persons.
The unit will use a Blackhawk helicopter for overhead command and control, and to simulate medevacs.
The drill will culminate in the apprehension of the suspected arms dealer.
Alpha Company will conduct a review of the drill on Sunday, April 5.
A meeting to give residents more information and accept volunteers will be held 7 p.m. Monday, March 2, in the Arcadia American Legion hall.
Kots said the exercise will replace Alpha Company's weekend drill for April.
"We have a lot of extended drills this coming year," he added.
In addition to surveillance, searching and apprehension, the exercise will also give the troops valuable experience in stability, support, patrol, traffic control, vehicle searches and other skills needed for deployment in an urban environment.
"This exercise will improve the real-life operational skills of the unit," said Kots. "And it will hopefully improve the public's understanding of military operations."
The pre-drill work with residents is as important at the drill itself.
"It will be important for us to gain the trust and confidence of the residents of Arcadia," said Kots. "We will need to identify individuals that are willing to assist us in training by allowing us to search their homes and vehicles and to participate in role-playing."
"We really want to get as much information out there as possible, because this operation could be pretty intrusive to the people of Arcadia."
Here they come.
Glad I sold all my stuff.
I have a friend.. a dear friend who sometimes I ‘get’ and others I don’t. She had stockpiles of food and medical supplies stored up for Y2K. She’s been a vocal Ron Paul supporter for years now. Anyway, there are moments I find myself ‘getting’ her more these days, and I can’t say I like that!
Yeah, I’m getting that way myself.
Here they come.
Glad I sold all my stuff.
Exactly WHAT Did You Sell ?
And to Whom ? sarc/
It would be interesting to know “HOW” they planned on determining an individual’s interest in “participating”.
1. Door-to-door doesn’t seem very practical.
(”Sir, would you be willing to .......” BOOM!)
2. Public sign-up invites a lot of hositle response.
scary part is, anybody saying no to the search will be the first to get searched when the real thing happens...
There’s the truth
I read the article. It’s an exercise. Period. Outside influence caused it to be scaled back. The folks in Iowa don’t seem to have a problem with it.
Lets don’t add to unfounded hysteria.
This is the kind of thing done in Iraq and will probably be done in Afghanistan.
We don't live in Iraq or Afghanistan, and in any event there are plenty of MOUT (Military Operations on Urban Training) facilities located on bases all over the country including Iowa that are built specifically for this type of "Urban Warfare" training...
“facilities located on bases all over the country including Iowa that are built specifically for this type of “Urban Warfare” training...”
And those are National Guard training facilities? I suppose you’re against ANY kind of realistic training for our troops? I for one don’t subscribe to the hysteria over this that some are exhibiting.
Don't start talking like a frigging idiot, I used to damn near live in the MOUT areas, there needs to be CLEAR boundaries between the military units training and the civilian population inconus, especially in today's times and even more so with the current administrations track record!
And for your bluster, the townsfolk didn’t seem to have a problem with the idea. It was “outsiders” interfering.
If the townsfolk agreed to participate what’s the big deal?
Other than it feeds the conspiracies that run rampant with this kind of coordinated event.
Man! that's all you have to jump back in the thread with, wow what a revelation... Shooting a magazine of blanks into the battle are we?...
Sometimes people have to wake up and view the problem from a different perspective and "outsiders" can help with that. If there was "no problem" with the "scheduled" operation, the locals and the NG Unit would still be proceeding with the "training exercise"... they are not because the "training exercise" to closely mirrors current "political" policies and potential events.
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