Charles J. Dunlap Jr. On deploying active duty troops to disaster-relief : (H/T Instapundit)
The cool efficiency of full-time military professionals on the hot New Orleans streets was exactly what the people wanted to see.
And apparently they want to see more of it when the need arises — and sooner. Indeed, few would debate the utility of a faster deployment of the active-duty military’s rescue, logistics and engineering resources.
…
The 1878 Posse Comitatus Act bars most direct military involvement in law enforcement, with several exceptions, including civil disturbances. Since Sept. 11, 2001, such threats as terrorist use of weapons of mass destruction have given the armed forces new legal authority. Should there be more?
Americans don’t seem especially worried about increasing the full-time military’s role. Despite troubles in Iraq and detainee abuse scandals, polls show that the armed forces are the most trusted institution in American society.
I was down in Katrina, not New Orleans, but Gulfport, Mississippi. Our operation was 100% Reserve component, with an on-the-fly task force consisting of about a division. There were so many troops there, I thought that a follow-on mission to invade Mexico wouldn’t have been out of the question. The streets were flooded with military vehicles, MPs were on every street corner, my infantry prowled through the devastated coastline looking for looters and providing security for the local populace to gather their belongings and begin to rebuild their lives. All the while, logistics troops from packhorse battalions and truck companies ferried needed supplies, water, and food to the populace, civil affairs guys liaisoned with the local civic leaders, Engineers partnered with local relief workers and set up a Blue Roof program, Aviation units kept helicopters flying 24/7, and mechanics, cooks, and administrators kept things running smoothly behind the scenes.
All of this was done by the National Guard and Reserves. We had no Active units, and really didn’t need them. Personally, I think the insertion of Active units into the AO was for political reasons.
IF there is another Katrina-scale disaster, that requires another month-long deployment of ground forces, I hope that we won’t reflexively deploy Active-Component (AC) units to do a job that can be accomplished by a joint Reserve-Component/local effort.
Again, nothing against AC units, but deploying them domestically runs counter to their purpose. RC soldiers are usually part of the community that they deploy to protect, especially in disaster-relief scenarios.
COL Dunlap, as you may remember, wrote about the dangers of relying on the active military domestically:
I want to write the “Origins of the American Military Coup of 2012.” I think it’s important to get the truth recorded before they rewrite history. If we’re going to get our freedom back, we’ve got to understand how we got into this mess. People need to understand that the armed forces exist to support and defend government, not to be the government. Faced with intractable national problems on one hand, and
an energetic and capable military on the other, it can be all too seductive to start viewing the military as a cost-effective solution. We made a terrible mistake when we allowed the armed forces to be diverted from its original purpose.
I’m not a big believer in the “Seven Days in May” scenarios that COL Dunlap fears. The prospect of firing up an armored column and rolling it out of the basement of the Pentagon just doesn’t jive with the military I know and love. Forces have their roles, and the primary organization for support to domestic law enforcement and execute disaster relief operations is the National Guard.
No active forces for civilian enforcement duties. The reserves and guard can do the job, and the guard should be kept under state control.
The active forces duty is to kill people and break things — something we do not need within the U.S. during disasters.
1878 Posse Comitatus Act was for a purpose, which is still valid today, to limit the use of the military in civilian law enforcement.
As a retired regular Air Force officer I am against using the military where civilian authority should be used.
I have to agree with JimPv, but it sure would be nice to know that our civilian authority could react in these kind of situations with the same deliberate, professional and caring ability that our military does. It’s like the old USMC saying, “no one needs God or the Marines, until they really need God and the Marines!”
You are missing the point. After the San Francisco earthquake, the Navy pulled in and started helping, primarily with hot food and trained medical staff. This is exactly what the military should have done after Katrina. The Navy did not pull into New Orleans, because incompetence sent them crusing up and down the coast.
Yes, the Marines are trained to kill people, they also know how to fix a damm good meal in the field. I have spent time with Marines, I have also lived in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Sweeping up broken glass, pulling old people out of nursing homes, fixing hot meals and setting up shower tents are not prohibited by posse comititus, they are also important, far more important than law enforcement.
“The Navy did not pull into New Orleans, because incompetence sent them crusing up and down the coast.”
I’m not sure that’s accurate, can someone verify? I thought the Navy steamed in there ASAP….USS Comfort and one of our LHDs if I recall.
Considering the use of no knock raids and paramilitary police forces, SWAT, it makes me queasy to picture even the most patriotic private standing on my street corner, even in a disaster.
It doesn’t make me feel good to think that my failing to prepare with 3 days foodstuffs for a storm that was spotted a week earlier is grounds to begin the mobilization of the military.
I don’t fear pvt anyone today. But I do fear his successors. Today’s Army is trained to look at foreign countries as the place where things happen, in years to come if they get comfortable with emergency roles, they’ll begin training for the next contingency, emergency policing, and after that becomes the norm…
We’ve seen over the years what happens when armies are allowed to move around countries to “do the right thing”.
Seeing how the federal government has already moved to begin the supression of public speech though campaign finance, they’ve turned back the right to bear arms, the right to know a warrant is being served is no longer even reliable. Do we really want the best trained fighting force on Earth pointed at us?
With the horrid public schools today forgetting to instill in students the reasons our founders feared a standing army, much less civic duties and freedom, I don’t want to rely on the next generations upbringing and education to keep them from mobilizing on our own cities.
It’s a mixture made for bad things and oppression. I know it’s conspiracy theory and slippery slope crap piled into one, but it’s something I really do worry about happening downt he road.
As someone who is a professional police officer and a citizen-soldier who served in Iraq with the 101st Airborne, I can tell you that America’s active component are the BEST DAMNED soldiers around… and are LOUSY policemen. The Army does a very poor job in training soldiers to perform in a civilian law-enforcement environment and does not equip them to do so.
Soldiers were made to memorize escalation of force techniques as if they were a step-ladder instead of being taught the “use-of-force continuum” as cops are taught. They are not given the hundreds upon hundreds of different scenarios they may encounter on the street in order to best prepare them to deal with any use-of-force scenario as cops are. These also aren’t regularly rehearsed and discussed as they are in law enforcement circles.
In Iraq, we were not permitted to deploy OC spray, as it is considered a “chemical weapon” by the wonder-kids at JAG. Even though I was probably as qualified, if not more so, than any MP, I was told to put mine away. Same goes with the ASP baton. No training, no can use. CS grenades and rounds… no go. Non-lethal 40mm (rubber pellets and “nerf” rounds) was barely a “go” but were only tolerated in the most extreme circumstances (where I personally would probably revert to lethal force).
The Army is restricted by an antiquated document (the Geneva Convention) in which soldiers are not permitted to utilize the more lethal expansive rounds that American law-enforcement can on American citizens (I carry Speer Gold-dot Law-enforcement rounds… very nasty stuff).
I once heard of a story from the Marine experience during the LA riots in which Marines who were supporting a group of policemen serving a warrant on someone were told to “cover us”. They proceeded to lay down suppressive fire on the suspect’s house until told to stop. As hilarious is it was, fortunately nobody was hurt and the suspect was succesfully apprehended.
If any uniformed servicemen have to patrol my streets, please let it be reservists and national guardsmen, a good portion of whom are cops and know what they’re doing in this situation.
Even if we should deploy AC units to domestic disaster areas, we really can’t.
Posse Comitatus prevents it. That being said, active duty units CAN be used in true emergency situations ot prevent imminent loss of life or destruction of property.
I don’t have it in front of me, but I’ve been working on the legal annex to our post’s plan for a natural disaster and the legal authorities therein.
Short answer: AC units can assist, on occassion.
I think most people misunderstand the Posse Comitatus Act. The millitary was initially considered part of the Militia and it required Congress to employ them in domestic law enforcement situations.
In 1807 after the Burr controversy, Congress passed a law making the Army part of the Posse Comitatus (the people at large who constituted the constabulary who could be called on to help inforce laws) as well as a part of the Militia.
The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 gave Federal Marshalls the power to call on the Posse Comitatus. In 1854, The Atty. Gen. issued a ruling that the Army was part of the P.C. After the civil war, the Republicans used the army to protect polling places and this pissed the Democrats off, leading to the passage of the Posse Comitatus Act. As part of the end of Reconstruction and the beginning of Jim Crowe, it is not our proudest moment, so it is a suprise that so many revere it so. However it was welcomed by the millitary as it kept them out of the uncomfortable situations of being out of their chain of command.
The P.C.A. prevented lesser authorities than the President from deputising the millitary for civilian law enforcement roles except when explicitly allowed by laws passed by Congress. It does not limit or restrict the power of the President at all. Any use of the millitary, including disaster relief, when ordered by the President is not a violation of the P.C.A.
Mike
I think that the Guard and Reserve units should remain our primary forces to deal with disaster relief. But I also believe that deploying certain active duty units such as engineers, logistics experts, transports, etc. should be considered. After the responses to Katrina, Pakistan, and the Tsunami, our logistical forces have it down to a science, but every oppurtunity becomes a learning experience to sharpen those troops skills. As for the policing and security aspect, that should be left in the hands of Reserve, Guard and local enforcement personnel. The chance of needing an active duty infantry battalion in a disaster zone is slim. And remember you have to feed those extra soldiers as well. Throwing more soldiers at the problem for political/media reasons could possibly lead to complicating logistics even further.
I dont think the problem is whether or not they should have policing duties (IMO they shouldn’t) I think the problem is that theyre expected to have the policing powers by the puublic and the media that’s on the scene.
Even if the active duty military is in a disater area cooking meals and doing other disaster relief functions, they’re expected to be able to take part in actively restoring order.
Otherwise we’ll have headlines that read: “US Army Complicit in Mass Looting!” Which, if I remember correctly, is exactly what happened in the immediate days after Katrina.
Kevin
Use the Guard, yes, and the more the merrier. That’s one of the reasons they exist. Use the active military only very sparingly and preferably in support roles. As Joel pointed out above soldiers make awful policemen, because the soldier’s primary weapon is his rifle, whereas the cop’s primary weapon is moral authority stemming from his status as a member of the community. The Guard has the right elements of both.
Kevin, that is a good point about the media… and, as a PSYOP-er, I should have thought of that. The presence of AC forces set an expectation in the minds of generally ignorant civilians about what their role should be… and, when that expectation is not met (for whatever reason), it leads to bad press coverage.
Nice point.
Mike wrote:
The P.C.A. prevented lesser authorities than the President from deputising the millitary for civilian law enforcement roles except when explicitly allowed by laws passed by Congress. It does not limit or restrict the power of the President at all. Any use of the millitary, including disaster relief, when ordered by the President is not a violation of the P.C.A.
That’s not entirely true. PCA, by its language, wasn’t limited to “lesser authorities.”
PCA makes it a crime for any person to use the Army or AF as civilian law enforcement unless authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress.
POTUS has authority to do so in cases of rebellion or insurrection, chem/bio terrorism, and some other instances not relevant here. But he does not have carte blanche. DOD personnel can offer logistical support under the Stafford Act (42 USC 5121 et seq), but that does not include civ. law enforcement.
Accordingly to say that “Any use of the millitary, including disaster relief, when ordered by the President is not a violation of the P.C.A.” is incorrect. It may violate the PCA.
Someone might be able to correct me, but I don’t think that the USMC, (nor the USN, but I am a little less clear on them) comes under the jurisdiction of the PCA. I remember having tp sign off on Memorandums of Understanding while serving on active duty in the USMC, but assigned to work on task forces with the DEA/Border Patrol, etc. Maybe one of the military lawyers can clear this point up for me. Although I love the USMC, I would not want to see them patrolling streets after a natural disaster.
As my life is spent in ARs, I cannot speak knowingly on how the Navy deals with PCA (as far as I know, the USMC would fall under whatever strictures the Navy has)
That, and I’m too lazy to look right now.
I think it’s a terrible idea to use active duty troops for law enforcement duties. They are not trained or equipped to peform those duties and using them that way will weaken their ability to perform their primary mission as well as result in lousy law enforcement. I’m not convinced that using NG or Reserve troops that are not MP trained is much better.
Humanitarian duties are different and the manpower and other resources that the military can bring to disaster situations can be very helpful. This duty should primarily fall to NG and Reserve troops, but certainly bringing a hospital ship or amphibious assault hips can save many lives.
Army Lawyer–
With respect, you seem to be alluding to the powers of Congress under Article I Section 8 “To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions’” (Federalizing the Organized Militia or drafting the unorganized Militia). This discusses the Congress not the President, and this is with reguard to the Militia not the Posse Comitatus. Even so, it does not say exectute the laws of the union only when suppressing Insurrections . . .
The president’s power comes from Article II, law enforcement as part of “executive powers” and command of the millitary as Commander in Chief. The standing army is already federalized. The presidential powers are covered “by congress or the constitution” wording in the PCA. Even if this were not the interpritation of the PCA, it would still not apply to the president because only a constititional amendment can remove presidential powers, a statute cannot.
This is the interpritation of the PCA that Professor Derek Reveron at the Navy War College teaches.
Army Lawyer-
Thanks for the clarification. Actually “carte blanche” or “unfettered” power is not my position, but consistent with Constitutional presidential powers. Article II is so short and vague that it is as much a question of history and tradition as to what they mean as it is one of law.
Mike
Army Lawyer-
Thanks for the clarification. Actually “carte blanche” or “unfettered” power is not my position, but consistent with Constitutional presidential powers. Article II is so short and vague that it is as much a question of history and tradition as to what they mean as it is one of law.
Mike
Sure looked like Navy Ships down by the Convention Center in N.O. when I was there is Spetember ’05…
As for Operation Crescent Relief – I thought the only purpose for the 101st AB folks I saw was to have CNN and various print media photogs fllow them around taking endless shots of them and their nice red berets, heh heh.
very interesting comments
grif,
Regarding PCA to USMC – See 10 U.S.C. § 375, where Congress directed SecDef to promulgate regulations forbidding direct
participation “by a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps in a search, seizure, arrest, or other
similar activity.”
SecDef did so in DoDD 5525.5. Therefore, the proscription has been extended by regulation
to the Navy and Marine Corps (DoDD 5525.5).
However, SecDef and SecNav may grant exceptions on a case-by-case basis
(DoDD 5525.5, Encl. 4, SECNAVINST 5820.7b, para. 9c.).
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