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Damien435

Active member
This is mostly just a personal victory for myself, long ago I had heard a rumor that the military was banned from intervening in a civilian law enforcement action. However now I have my proof, the Posse Comitatus Act bans the use of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps. and federalized National Guardsmen in civilian law enforcement. The Coast Guard is an exception, especially when in use for preventing drug trafficking, and when the Guard is under the control of the Governor or State it is also an exception.

Why am I so happy about this? Well it answers a lot of questions for me. I have before argued for the disbanding of the National Guard, just have the Army and Army Reserve, it would save time and get rid of what seemed to me to be two overlapping and redundant groups. Now I understand why the Guard is so necessary, a great example of this was when Katrina hit, Guardsmen, not regular Army or Marines, were sent in to shoot back when rescuers were being shot at by stubborn New Orleaners. And the Guard is routinely called upon to respond to other natural disasters, floods and tornadoes here in South Dakota for example.

So if anyone can actually find a way to contribute to this thread go ahead, I personally fail to see many openings for a person to reply to but if you can find one go fro it.
 
lol, You could have just asked. But research is good, it'll put hair on your chest and information in your brain.
 
The Navy Commander of my NJROTC unit told us that every time he went on a cruise, there was at least one Coast Guard officer in the fleet so that they could arrest any civillian criminals (druggies and pirates) they came across, because the military couldn't arrest civillians.
 
Funnily enough I was watching programme called Jag were this very topic was brought up in the film during a court case they were dealing with.
 
LeEnfield said:
Funnily enough I was watching programme called Jag were this very topic was brought up in the film during a court case they were dealing with.

JAG, that show makes me giggle like a school girl. I like that Marine chick, though. She's got outstanding "military bearing." Just watch how she stands, back straight, chest out. I'd let her Posse my Comitatus allllllllllll night.:mrgreen:

 
The National Guard is also the only buffer between the civilian population and riots like the ones during the `60s such as Watts, Kent State, and all of the civil rights problems such as the Arkansas and Alabama public schools being open to blacks. There were times when the Guard was ordered to remove the State Police and Governor from the doors of Alabama schools and escorted the black kids to and from school.
 
Yeah, but Kent State isn't really a good example to use when describing the National Guard as a "buffer."
 
PJ24 said:
Yeah, but Kent State isn't really a good example to use when describing the National Guard as a "buffer."

What would be your description of that exercise, being non-judgemental as to the right or wrong aspect? I say it was intended as mob control.
 
Missileer said:
The National Guard is also the only buffer between the civilian population and riots like the ones during the `60s such as Watts, Kent State, and all of the civil rights problems such as the Arkansas and Alabama public schools being open to blacks. There were times when the Guard was ordered to remove the State Police and Governor from the doors of Alabama schools and escorted the black kids to and from school.

An interesting thing to note is that the National Guard is technically under the command of the state governor, like how the main military has the President as its commander in chief. During the desegregation of Central High and the first university (can't remember the name) the President (Eisenhower and Kennedy, I think) had to nationalize the National Guard because the governor refused to send them (as you said, he was physically blocking the door yelling "Segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!).

The Presidents also sent the 101st Airborne to both of those civil rights crowd control events. I think it was probably just for psychological impact of such a famous unit, but was he allowed to?
 
Missileer said:
What would be your description of that exercise, being non-judgemental as to the right or wrong aspect? I say it was intended as mob control.

I wasn't challenging the intent of use, I was stating it wasn't a great example to use when talking about "buffers." There was no buffer at Kent State, just angry students and poorly trained soldiers with loaded rifles that ended in a bloody mess.

I think it was a great example of what happens when you put soldiers in a specific situation (like crowd/riot control) they haven't been trained to handle properly.

It's one of the worst miscalculated and improper use of National Guard soldiers in US history.

Italian Guy said:
Dude I love that JAG series. PJ you mean the blonde chick or the brunette?

The Marine, Catherine Bell (she was the brunette). The blond was a Navy chick, and was a little lacking in the tatas department.

 
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