Posted on 07/04/2011 6:02:20 AM PDT by DJ Taylor
PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- The Defense Department is grooming a new type of commander to coordinate the military response to domestic disasters, hoping to save lives by avoiding some of the chaos that plagued the Hurricane Katrina rescue effort.
The officers, called dual-status commanders, would be able to lead both active-duty and National Guard troops - a power that requires special training and authority because of legal restrictions on the use of the armed forces on U.S. soil.
(Excerpt) Read more at miamiherald.com ...
It seems to me that the effort is to take over the National guard and take governors out of the picture.
The commanders thus appointed would be the military and manpower arm of Fema. The Federal government would thus be in control of all aspects of the disaster.
Chaos with the military? The Coast Guard rescued thousands without 1 loss of life.
It doesn't read that way to me.
That sort of nonsense was caused by Democrat Governors, Senators and Mayors - and by a government-enfeebled populace.
The way to stop it from happening again would be to
Yes, and this President is more than willing to use an unusual event to bypass State governments, constitutions, and local officials to put Federal troops into the communities, as did Lincoln in 1861-65.
Not good.
Not too sure I like where this is going.
True, if the military is given freedom to do the job, there's no other group that can prevent chaos and bust down roadblocks to getting it done. When bureaucrats get involved, chaos and inefficiencies rule...
Do not forget an incompent socialite horse-jockey appointed by GWB as head of FEMA.
I have concerns like all of you, and don't think much of this. I also think that FEMA should be run by a retired army general who has a lot of experience running an overseas expeditionary base. The army is the only organization in the US that routinely feeds, clothes and houses in sanitary conditions 100,000 people in a remote area under dangerous conditions with little existing and operating infrastructure. No one else does that. It is what the Army does best. Fighting is a tiny part of the problem. Keeping a large army alive in hostile territory so they even can fight has always been the biggest problem an army organization faces.
I think that everyone is rightfully dubious of this, and Republicans in the House should put their foot down quickly and say “no way in heck” to the Pentagon.
Were this legitimate at all it would have gone through congress first, but coming directly from the executive branch makes it stink to high heaven.
Any pretense that “foreign”, that is, Pentagon-assigned commanders could just be sent in to take over a State’s militia, just because when under presidential control and overseas in a war it is done, does not cut the mustard.
http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/
(See ‘Legislative Tracking’ to see all the State resolutions pending).
REDLINE: According the the 10th Amendment Center, a “Defend the Guard” resolution has been introduced in eight States. It says:
“Under the Constitution, the militia (now called the National Guard) may only be called into duty by the federal government in three specific situations. According to Article I, Section 8; Clause 15, the *Congress* is given the power to pass laws for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions.
“The militia was intended by the Founders and Ratifiers to be defense force and nothing more. Deployments outside the country were not considered, and neither were internal deployments in pursuance of powers that were not delegated to the federal government.”
“Congress has passed numerous laws in the past 100 years giving the federal government additional authority not mentioned in the Constitution. But, without amendment, altering the enumerated powers by legislative fiat is, in and of itself, unconstitutional. Campaigns in states around the country are working to reassert the authority of governors over guard troops.”
IMPORTANTLY: The only reason the federal government has ANY control over State National Guards is by agreement, in which, in EXCHANGE for federal uniforms, equipment and training, these militias agree to be federalized in time of war.
Kind like Reconstruction after the War Between the States...Wonder what Obama will call it...Reparations?
A commander can not have dual reporting chains. Unity of command demands a single, linear chain of cammand. This plan is evil to the core.
I think we should eliminate FEMA and return to the local civil defense model
And I thought LTG Honore ended all the conflict and confusion in short order.
The chaos was in the local police department and the governor’s mansion.
Really? I thought it was in the Superdome and in the Walmarts that were being looted.
If the residents had behaved themselves and evacuated when they were told the problems would have been minimal.
A key component of that success is the discipline, acquired through their training, of the individual troops. The troops are also unified by their shared goal of accomplishing whatever mission they happen to have and, in many cases, the troops are familiar with each other and others in their chain of command through weeks, months or years of training together. If a soldier gets out of line, he is subject to UCMJ discipline - and he knows this.
None of the above applies to thousands and thousands of disparate men, women and children camped out in a sports stadium. This is not an appropriate role for the military - it is just a further attempt by this administration to over-extend and confuse the mission of our military. If obama feels there is a need for refugee-camp administrators then maybe he should re-train the Peace Corpse.
I could be wrong but I was under the impression that the NG has been ransacked during the last ten years. They may be getting new equipment to replace the stuff they wear out in the middle east.
How many tours of duty has each individual Guard unit made?
At least three, probaly more like 5.
I have felt for some now that the feds are whittling the NG down so the people will not be able to fight back when the feds finish destroying the Constitution and America.
Freepers may recall the political hay that was made by national democrats against George H.W. Bush's supposed “inaction” in not sending in Federal troops to Miami in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew.....
A willing media again, just like in katrina, played the whining card about failure of the President. They neatly overlooked the fact of the Posse Comitatus law that prevents the federal government sending any troops into a state without the governor's request.
In the case of Andrew, once again a moron democrat, the “he coon” Lawton Chiles FAILED (or did this deliberately, which I believe) to request troops from Bush to stop the looting (not needed by those who armed themselves, unlike those who tried in Katrina and were arrested for doing so!) and Bush could not send them. This demo ploy worked against Bush senior, as well as the no new taxes— and we got Billy Boy.
Fact is, that this effort to “temporarily” empower military leadership in this “case” is a way to impart permanent, national socialist military rule over our sovereign states rights under Posse Comitatus. And, it dovetails nicely with plans to eliminate the Second Amendment rights we cherish.
All to uh, help the poor and helpless... and of course, the children. One more aspect of the Constitution that is trying to be circumvented by Progressives. Self sufficient people and local control will always do better, if we elect competent people.
The lack of coordination in Katrina can be laid at the feet of Gov. Blanco, and Ray Nagin. Moron politician incompetents, both.
And it took a long while to get rid of them, and exceptional measures as well as national political change.
The troops were there to enforce the carpetbaggers and scalawags— and the post war takeover of the private railroads by the magnates of the North— namely JP Morgan and the Vanderbilts. Spoils of war.
It has been argued rather well that these vultures orchestrated the murder of Lincoln, who would not have allowed the troops in. Stanton was one of the vultures and I believe this is what happened. Billions in spoils were on the table.
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