[knittnmom]

So, before the bombings, the National Guard had troops in place for the Boston Marathon? Does anyone else think this sounds just a little suspicious? Or is this SOP for major events?

[krogers58]

So, before the bombings, the National Guard had troops in place for the Boston Marathon? Does anyone else think this sounds just a little suspicious? Or is this SOP for major events?

SOP. Without going into details, the idea of the National Guard troops on scene is to provide first responders with the ability to quarantine and decontaminate/mitigate any WMD's that may have been involved. (i.e. Nuclear, Biological and/or Chemical weapons). The national guard units have "spotters" who respond to an event and determine if any WMD's were involved, and if so, they begin making preparations to use their specialized equipment. Other resources are also deployed to determine any WMD involvement. Many police departments issue WMD detection capabilities to their cops on scene.