Your experience with the military was exclusively with the "organized militia", which has notification systems in place, and is designed for call-outs which assume response times longer than minutes.
My point covers the "unorganized militia", and allows call-outs in literal minutes.
This EBS does include confirmation of authorization. As another poster recalled, decades ago a national test of the EBS screwed up and _did_ use the confirmation codes (oops!), leading to a tense period where much of the country thought we were under attack. Yes, there are security codes as demonstrated & revealed by that screwup.
Methinks the hangup is on "control": AFAIK, broadcasters are not compelled (to wit, punished if they don't comply) to participate. It may be just this side of voluntary, but I have yet to discover any punishments which would be meted out if a broadcaster did not carry the message.
While the term "militia" may not explicitly be used, the legal definition of "unorganized militia" entails all able-bodied males 17+, the practical definition amounts to "all able-bodied citizens". The term "calling forth" may explicitly refer to particular organized military activity, but the spirit of the term is defense and protection of the population at large and the organization & property thereof.
It's not a power grab (or, at least not a new one). The system has been in place since the 1930s, just not updated and tested much since then. Considering the executive who is testing this does of course raise eyebrows, the timing is poorly chosen (prime daylight hour with widespread announcement, instead of low-key late-night testing), and OMGWTFBBQ if it is EVER used for any political purpose...
(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.
(b) The classes of the militia are—
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.
(Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 14; Pub. L. 85–861, §1(7), Sept. 2, 1958, 72 Stat. 1439; Pub. L. 103–160, div. A, title V, §524(a), Nov. 30, 1993, 107 Stat. 1656.)
| Revised section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
|---|---|---|
| 311(a) 311(b)
|
32:1 (less last 19 words). 32:1 (last 19 words).
|
June 3, 1916, ch. 134, §57, 39 Stat. 197; June 28, 1947, ch. 162, §7 (as applicable to §57 of the Act of June 3, 1916, ch. 134), 61 Stat. 192. |
In subsection (a), the words “who have made a declaration of intention” are substituted for the words “who have or shall have declared their intention”. The words “at least 17 years of age and * * * under 45 years of age” are substituted for the words “who shall be more than seventeen years of age and * * * not more than forty-five years of age”. The words “except as provided in section 313 of title 32” are substituted for the words “except as hereinafter provided”, to make explicit the exception as to maximum age.
In subsection (b), the words “The organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia” are substituted for the words “the National Guard, the Naval Militia”, since the National Guard and the Naval Militia constitute the organized militia.
| Revised section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
|---|---|---|
| 311(a) | 32 App.:1. | July 30, 1956, ch. 789, §1, 70 Stat. 729. |
The words “appointed as . . . under section 4 of this title” are omitted as surplusage.
1993—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103–160 substituted “members” for “commissioned officers”.
1958—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 85–861 included female citizens of the United States who are commissioned officers of the National Guard.