Guard units train for militia attacks

[Thor]

Guard units train for militia attacks
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By Silas Allen
Silas.w.allen@us.army.mil
Published: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 2:27 PM CDT
CAMP CROWDER, Mo. -- It isn't easy being an insurgent in Neosho, Mo.

The long hours. The blistering heat. And, of course, constantly having to come up with new ways of haassing the Missouri National Guardsmen training in the area.

Such was the case for several members of the headquarters detachment of the 229th Multifunctional Medical Battalion.

During the battalion's annual training exercise, eight members of the Jefferson City-based unit, acting as a fictitious militant group, attempted to disrupt the battalion's operations through attacks and harassment. The battalion's other two units, the Kansas City-based 205th Area Support Medical Company, and the Springfield based 206th Area Support Medical Company, fended off the attacks while performing their medical duties.

Generally, the "militants" came in groups of two to four, said Capt. Joseph Schmitz, a member of the insurgent group. Because the training exercise was geared more toward the units' medical duties, the attacks were rarely intense, and the militants gave up easily.

"If they shot at us at all, we were pretty happy with that," he said.

Simulating an insurgent group involves a fair amount of acting. During a late-night scenario, Schmitz played a local townsperson with a minor shoulder injury. While waiting to be treated, Schmitz addressed everyone who passed him as "GI," and spoke in broken English -- phrases such as "You want I help, GI?" and "I am not fighter."

On the last evening of the exercise, the militants ramped up their attacks.

At around 7:30 p.m., the group drove two Humvees up to a checkpoint and opened fire, using paintball rifles. They also threw a smoke grenade, which was used to simulate an improvised explosive device. When the medical units' security forces fired back, rather than retreating, the militants sped forward into the units' compound. The security team responded with gunfire and simulated grenades.

Schmitz said the battalion decided to use paintball rifles for the exercise rather than a laser-based system because it does a better job of simulating certain aspects of real combat.

"It doesn't simulate the injury," he said, "but it simulates the randomness of it."

Once the attack was over, the security team and the militant group came together for an after-action review. During the review, members of both sides discussed what had gone well and what needed improvement. Following the review, the militant group retired to its headquarters, a WWII-era bunker in a remote section of the camp. There, they reloaded rifles and smoke grenades and prepared for the next attack.

In a real combat situation, Schmitz said, medical units would most likely have other soldiers on hand, such as Military Police, to provide security for them. However, it's important for the units to be working in scenarios that are as true to life as possible.

"We're just here to make sure they have realistic training," he said.

http://www.newstribune.com/articles/2009/06/30/news_state/184state15guard.txt

[NHSparky]

AYFKM?  I realize that Guard units don't fall under Posse Commitatus, but you've got to be batshit crazy to think that Guard units would turn their guns on their fellow citizens. 

I swear, the Obamareich is just gathering steam at this point.  Molon labe, ****ers.

[Thor]

AYFKM?  I realize that Guard units don't fall under Posse Commitatus, but you've got to be batshit crazy to think that Guard units would turn their guns on their fellow citizens. 

I swear, the Obamareich is just gathering steam at this point.  Molon labe, ****ers.

Bear in mind, people like you and I are deemed "terrorists" because we are veterans,  gun owners, patriots, and believe in the Constitution. With some of the military folks in today's world, they just MIGHT shoot their fellow citizens. I HOPE that won't be the case, but I fear it just might be.

[DumbAss Tanker]

It's a bit of a bootstrap to go from "Militant," which is in the story, to "Militia," which isn't.  If that's really the way it was in the original, the editor has some serious reading comprehension issues.

And FWIW, it's been my experience that Soldiers are perfectly willing to shoot at anyone whom they think is trying to shoot at them.

[Tantal]

And FWIW, it's been my experience that Soldiers are perfectly willing to shoot at anyone whom they think is trying to shoot at them.

I thought that too. Being a cop, I refuse to go door to door confiscating firearms; however, if I'm coming out of the Krispy Kreme and somebody starts throwing rounds at me, I'm shooting back. Politics kinda go out the window when lead starts coming your way.

[NHSparky]

I thought that too. Being a cop, I refuse to go door to door confiscating firearms; however, if I'm coming out of the Krispy Kreme and somebody starts throwing rounds at me, I'm shooting back. Politics kinda go out the window when lead starts coming your way.

Okay, that's perfectly fine.  But what about the BATF guys down in Houston?  Think that's appropriate?  Think that isn't going incite the fringes, and if it continues, more and more "mainstream" gun owners?

[Gratiot]

I thought that too. Being a cop, I refuse to go door to door confiscating firearms...

Cheers on yourbeing courageous enough to make a stand!  Unfortunately, when the average person~cop is pressed.  Their career and livelihood/family are put at risk by disobeyingg, I'd wouldn't be surprised if many decide... "Orders is' Orders".

[NHSparky]

I thought that too. Being a cop, I refuse to go door to door confiscating firearms; however, if I'm coming out of the Krispy Kreme and somebody starts throwing rounds at me, I'm shooting back. Politics kinda go out the window when lead starts coming your way.

So what happens if/when that order DOES come down?  If you, as a private citizen, knew that law enforcement/NG/AD military were going door-to-door confiscating weapons, would you not then take up arms against a patenly illegal violation of your rights?

I respect police and the very difficult job they do, but that doesn't mean they always necessarily act in the public's best interest or totally within the bounds of the law/Constitution.

[Thor]

This is the point where the military & LEOs need to abide by the oaths that they took. Always keep in mind what defines a "lawful order". Just because some government agency says so, doesn't mean it's "lawful". One GOOD example are vaccinations. There are no current laws stating that flu vaccinations are required by law. However, the vaccination police would attempt to convince one otherwise. The BATF is searching for guns, door to door in Houston, without warrants, relying upon the "sheeple" to fall in line. The adage "if you aren't doing anything illegal, then you have nothing to hide" violates the essence of the 4th Amendment. But.... that's what they're using, not warrants.

[thundley4]

Are they "going door to door", or are they basing their visits on recorded sales of guns?  Either way, it seems illegal, but there is a subtle difference.

[Thor]

Are they "going door to door", or are they basing their visits on recorded sales of guns?  Either way, it seems illegal, but there is a subtle difference.

Here's the article from the Houston Chron:

Federal agents hunt for guns, one house at a time
By DANE SCHILLER Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
June 30, 2009, 9:36PM


In front of a run-down shack in north Houston, federal agents step from a government sedan into 102-degree heat and face a critical question: How can the woman living here buy four high-end handguns in one day?

The house is worth $35,000. A screen dangles by a wall-unit air conditioner. Porch swing slats are smashed, the smattering of grass is flattened by cars and burned yellow by sun.

“I’ll do the talking on this one,” agent Tim Sloan, of South Carolina, told partner Brian Tumiel, of New York.

Success on the front lines of a government blitz on gunrunners supplying Mexican drug cartels with Houston weaponry hinges on logging heavy miles and knocking on countless doors. Dozens of agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — sent here from around the country — are needed to follow what ATF acting director Kenneth Melson described as a “massive number of investigative leads.”

All told, Mexican officials in 2008 asked federal agents to trace the origins of more than 7,500 firearms recovered at crime scenes in Mexico. Most of them were traced back to Texas, California and Arizona.

Among other things, the agents are combing neighborhoods and asking people about suspicious purchases as well as seeking explanations as to how their guns ended up used in murders, kidnappings and other crimes in Mexico.

“Ever turning up the heat on cartels, our law enforcement and military partners in the government of Mexico have been working more closely with the ATF by sharing information and intelligence,” Melson said Tuesday during a firearms-trafficking summit in New Mexico.
Firearms dealers visited

The ATF recently dispatched 100 veteran agents to its Houston division, which reaches to the border.

The mission is especially challenging because, officials say, that while Houston is the number one point of origin for weapons traced back to the United States from Mexico, the government can’t compile databases on gun owners under federal law.

Agents instead review firearms dealers’ records in person.

People who are legally in the United States and have clean criminal records, but are facing economic problems are often recruited by traffickers to buy weapons on their behalf in order to shield themselves from scrutiny.

Knocks at the door of the shack that looked to be the definition of hard times went unanswered.

“I am out of here,” Sloan said a few moments later, as a pit bull lazily sauntered from the back yard. “I don’t like pit bulls walking up behind me.”


On second thought, Sloan switched to Spanish and interviewed a neighbor.

The neighbor said the woman left a month ago after a fight with her husband or boyfriend, who still lived there with what she called “other degenerates.”

“An angry ex-girlfriend or wife is the best person in the world, the greatest source of information,” Sloan said.

The night before, the duo were in a stakeout where they watched a weapons sale.

They also combined efforts with the Drug Enforcement Administration for an aircraft to stealthily follow traffickers to the border.

On this day, agents weren’t wearing raid jackets or combat boots and weren’t armed with warrants.

Guns were hidden under civilian shirts.

Another tip took agents on a 30-minute drive from the shack to a sprawling home with a pool in the back and an American flag out front.

It turned out two handguns, of a type drug gangsters prefer, were bought by a pastor for target practice.

Some stories, they say, are hard to believe.

The lamest so far came from a police officer: He said he bought a few military-style rifles, left them in his car and — on the same night — forgot to lock a door. He couldn’t explain why he didn’t file a police report or why he visited Mexico the day after the alleged theft.

dane.schiller@chron.com

Houston Chron Article

[thundley4]

Among other things, the agents are combing neighborhoods and asking people about suspicious purchases as well as seeking explanations as to how their guns ended up used in murders, kidnappings and other crimes in Mexico.

It doesn't seem like they are just walking through the neighborhoods and going door to door. OTOH, there are a few 'hoods in my town where if they went D2D, they could serve a few outstanding warrants.

[Vagabond]

Playing against, and being, opfor is fun.  However the situations are unrealistic.  An American insurgency isn't going to waste itself going toe to toe with military units.  Observe yes, identify habits, absolutely.  Attack?  Absolutely not.