Disagree...the Alabama Guard has more than its share of Military Police units that can deploy with minimum notice. The guardsmen you see on patrol after a natural disaster are typically members of an MP unit.
However, the soliders in the photo are said to be from Ft. Rucker, an active duty Army installation. Either the media is wrong about the soliders and where they are stationed, or we need some answers as to why active duty troops were called out in the wake of this tragedy. It was a horrific event to be sure, but one that should have been handled by local police, with assistance from state troopers.
Just in case anyone here did not hear it; an Alabama deputy (whose wife and daughter were killed) was interviewed, and he said his department was NOT equipped to handle this type of event (the shooting). He said they (his dept) was so ill equipped they could not handle a mere two victim homicide. The interview can be found at CNN.com in their video section under the heading “Deputy: “Pray for my baby.” Here’s a link to the video section. You’ll have to look through the videos for the interview with the aforementioned title.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/crime/2009/03/11/toschi.hot.dogs.lead.NEWS12NJ