Disclaimer - A reality check

Well, I have to be careful what I post, because I currently serve in the USAR. The reason I have not posted for a few days is because I was just away on a three day 'Battle Assembly'.  We were supposed to be parachuting, but the three aircraft dropped to one and then the final one was taken away to help with all those who failed to prep in the New Jersey area...that's a different topic.

So, we did some training locally. Because of all that I have read in recent months about ghastly government plans, FEMA armored vehicles etc, I was mindful of that as we drove through the local neighborhoods in our Humvees. We had occasion to stop and do some 'hearts and minds' with the local population, with a dog that had escaped its yard. As I knocked on the door in the early morning in my ACUs and tactical vest, I was mindful of the news I have seen related to SWAT teams arresting grandmas, cops Tazing 10 year olds, FEMA armored vehicles and all that. I did not want to be seen in that way. I was very sensitive to it, maybe too sensitive. It went well, I frightened no-one, and the lady was grateful for the return of her dog. I was polite, and backtracked out of there, visualizing photos and news articles about federal troops conducting house to house search operations in the local neighborhood.

Now, I am open to the potential for abuse of power, should we continue the slide towards a police surveillance state, Indeed, one of the reasons that I have not posted much lately is that I am currently writing a fiction book with the premise that we are in a civil war, post economic collapse, between Constitutional Patriots and a totalitarian Regime. In that scenario, some veterans are fighting with the resistance, others continue to serve in the Regime forces. I also see these posts about abuse of power by law enforcement, lack of accountability, and it worries and sickens me. So I am writing this not to argue against the potential or reality of such possible outcomes. I am writing to inject some good common sense.

What do I mean? I saw a comment about troops wearing the 'backwards' US Flag on their uniforms, as if this was a deliberate act of disrespect or hint of ill intent. It is, in my understanding, simply because the flag is worn on the right shoulder and therefore should be flying as it would if you saw it from that side advancing to battle. It is worn with pride in the flag, not malice towards it.

I have also never heard a hint in my unit of any plans to operate either in the US domestically, or to act against US Citizens. In fact, this weekend in response to a question in training it was emphatically stated by one officer that it would be illegal to operate domestically. In my unit, there is no malice or intent. My Company is full of good people, hard working honest Americans who also serve in the Reserves.

I would dearly like to comment freely on my thoughts about current politics and specific events such as Benghazi. But I will have to wait until (hopefully) after November 6th in order to comment, because the way the system is set up the politician/community organizer (etc.) who is the President is currently my Commander in Chief and as such UCMJ would prevent any derogatory comments. By being in the military, the reality is that you do sign away some of your constitutional rights, and you place yourself under UCMJ 24 hours a day. That's why I like to keep my blog about tactical, prepper and survival stuff, with a little smattering of current events.

So, I don't deny that there are serious problems with our Constitutional Republic, and that there are serious issues with the way the country is going/has gone. There is a lot at stake. It could be that a totalitarian regime emerges at some point in the future and misuses assets to oppress the People. I swore the oath to uphold the Constitution against 'enemies foreign and domestic' and I dearly hope we can fix our problems with dialogue before we arrive at some future where the country falls apart. That would be a tragedy, but one for which we all must be prepared. I just want to inject a little perspective into the observations of some: e.g. movement of armored vehicles may have an innocent logistical explanation, but it also may not. But the mere existence and movement of such vehicles does not necessarily make bad guys.

Here is the other thing that seems to be unspoken: If the bad things happen that many of us are expecting, and we have some sort of failure or collapse of the system that results in mass civil disorder, the peppers and constitutionalists and survivalists will not be the bad guys, at least not at that time. There will not be the resources.  The rioters in the cities will be the focus, even though they are the 'children' of the entitlement system - for that very reason they are its greatest threat if it fails in some way. That is where the law enforcement agencies will have to concentrate on the crackdown. I for one hope that there are law enforcement agencies able to act effectively, and if that takes armored vehicles, so be it. Keep them away from my sub-division, so I don't have to fight them off!

Did anyone watch the 'obamaphone' woman in that youtube clip and not wish that someone would crack down on her when she started to riot?! So, although we fear the use of government force against 'The People', what we really mean is that we do  not want our rights as good Americans affected by over-zealous or unconstitutional  policing or gun confiscation, but we want someone to act against the looters. We visualize free Americans like us who exhibit the American traits that we hold dear - individualism, self reliance, courage. We despise the dependent classes, the entitlement people. They are the very threat to the Republic, because they see no value in it. They just want handouts. I don't have a problem if the government has to maintain law and order by cracking down on these rioting and looting dependant types.

Disclaimer: BTW, nothing in this article is aimed at any particular racial minority, nor does it make an assumption that any type of racial minority or majority makes up any more or less of any type of dependant class. This applies to any dependent/entitlement class types of any race. I know and serve with people representing many of the diverse racial/cultural makeup of this mixing bowl that is the United States, I am no racist, and I judge people purely on how I find them and what their attitude is, not on their race. I also have no tolerance for reverse racism from minorities towards other minorities or majorities. No racism here sir!

Think about it.