Following publicized reports that the Army National Guard was planning a military training exercise on the streets of a rural Iowa town, the commanding officers have called off the mock "invasion." [More]We talked about this yesterday.
An inside source I contacted told me:
David, these are normal exercises for the Guard. The Guard gets deployed more than active duty units nowadays, and a lot of their missions in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo involve searching for weapons smugglers in urban environments. This is nothing to be alarmed about, and it’s nothing weird.WRSA still isn't buying the official line and give their reasons.
I have to say I respect my source, but then have to wonder how realistic the described exercises really are. I can't see politely looking over homeowner shoulders while they cooperatively open cabinets to be any scenario I'd expect to encounter in actual operations.