A Jade Helm 15 Primer

Unless you’ve already fled to your bug-out location, you have almost certainly heard of the upcoming US Special Forces exercise Jade Helm 15, set to launch this summer in a select number of States. Designed to “improve the Special Operations Forces’ UW (Urban Warfare) capability as pat of the National Security Strategy .”

Jade Helm begins on 15, July and runs for eight weeks, wrapping up on 15, September, in the following states:

• Texas
• New Mexico
• Arizona
• California
• Utah
• Colorado

The exercise is unprecendented in its size, scope and amount of discussion among the civiilian populaton. The vast majority of American citizens who know about it, are at the very least, concerned by the possible goals and ramifications of a military drill that puts American soldiers on the streets of the United States, training to confront and contain their countrymen. Many, already worried about the militarization of police departments taking place, are adding their voices to those who are quick to point out the illegality of American military forces operating in the U.S. The Insurrecton Act of 1807 puts limits on the ability of POTUS (President of the United States) to legally deploy troops on American soil. To do so, he needs a serous event in order to consider it, such as an invasion by a foreign power, or serious and widespread “lawlessness, insurrection and/or rebellion.”

The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 gives some pretty sharp teeth to the Insurrection Act by providing penalties for the unauthorized deployment of American Military forces in the Continental U.S. (CONUS). Authorized deployment of forces requires either the Federal troops engaged in repelling an invasion of one or more of the states by a foreign beligerent, or a request from the Governor or Legislature of the state involved for Federal troops to intervene in a case of serious civil disobedience.

Of course, according to the Pentagon, Jade Helm 15 is training, not deployment persay, and training operations are conducted in the Homeland all of the time. Of course, that training is conducted on Federal land, owned for the very  purpose of training our soldiers to fight. Jade Helm 15 is to be conducted off of Federal land, in public, and in some cases, on private property. So, the question becomes what is the meaning of “deployment?”