A first: Army units assigned to domestic duties

– The basis of this posting was an email to family members in Sep 2008.  The event is also worthy of note here.

Here is another fundamental change.

This is “the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment …” for domestic operations.

Beginning Oct. 1 for 12 months, the 1st BCT will be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command, as an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks.

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/army_homeland_090708w/

An Army brigade appears to between 1,500 and 3,200 soldiers.

It is a precedent worthy of our notice.  We have seen many other nations use the military to manage their populations.  A few questions come to mind.

• What conditions triggered this deployment?  Why now?
• What conditions trigger their use?
• What this unit’s intended use?
• Why is the National Guard insufficient for the task?  It has traditionally been the force used domestically.