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In making tactical dispositions, the highest pitch you can attain is to conceal them. -- Sun Tzu |
Current poll resultsShould homeland defense be a permanent mission for the Guard and Reserve?
Total votes: 490 |
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1846:
Naval forces capture Tampico, Mexico. This will be a staging point for the coming action against Vera Cruz.
1862: President Lincoln approves of General Ambrose Burnside's plan to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia. This was an ill-fated move, as it led to the disastrous Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13, in which the Army of the Potomac was dealt one of its worst defeats at the hands of General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. 1863: Gen Nathan Bedford Forrest was assigned to command of West Tennessee. 1910: Civilian Eugene Ely, was the first to take off in an airplane from the deck of a ship, the USS Birmingham (CL-2). 1940: 500 German bombers left Germany for Coventry, Great Britain. The air raid followed Hitler's public promise, after the British bombing of Munich on November 8, that "an attack on the capital of the Nazi movement would not go unpunished." The punishment was indeed thorough. German bombers decimated the city—dropping 150,000 fire bombs and 503 tons of high explosives, as well as 130 parachute mines 1942: Off the coast of Guadalcanal, Admiral Tanaka turns south with his destroyers and transports and comes under heavy air attack from both Henderson Field and planes from the USS Enterprise. 1942: French General Barre, begins the movement of his troops away from the coastal towns in preparation for switching to the Allied side. 1943: An American torpedo was mistakenly fired at the U.S. battleship Iowa, which was carrying President Roosevelt and his joint chiefs to the Tehran conference; the torpedo exploded harmlessly in the Iowa's wake. 1943: On Bougainville the American divisions push back the Japanese along the jungle tracks. A few American tanks are available for support. 1944: Carrier aircraft attack Japanese shipping in Philippines sinking five ships and damaging one. |
78.37 % (384)
Comments
homeland defense is a national matter, best dealt with at the federal level. This indeed is one of the legitimate functions of the federal government. The jursidictional disputes that could arise with the Guard involved would only further weaken our defenses.
My son is in the Guard and I know there are many soldiers who would love to be on active duty without leaving home. These soldiers could be federalized and used to supplement homeland defense. They might even free up regular active duty soldiers and airmen for other assignments. My experience in the reserve leads me to believe that the same is true in that instance. With the reserves, we could also use sailors and marines. I think it's a great idea which I readily support.
the gaurd and reserve are part time . a full time service should be born. with the possibility of short term help from the reserve and gaurd.
Not only must we have Homeland Defense as a permanent mission of the Guard and Reserves AND the Coast Guard, but the "Defense Department" should go back to being titled the "War Department" if our services are going to continue being expected to risk their lives all over the world! I'd like to see the FBI, FAA and ATF part of Homeland Defense permanently too.
Respectfully,
Larry M. Easton Sr.
With respect, there have been a number of real shooting wars on american soil prior to and following the 1860s. One can name the Indian Wars out west and military actions which involved tribal peoples all across the nation. Long before our War of Rebellion we experienced the Whiskey Rebellion which much changed our democracy. Several times in the 20th century we suffered when military action was called forth to challenge labor disputes, and even freedom of assembly and speech protesting foreign undeclared war. The Civil Rights movement experienced numerous armed conflicts between citizens and military forces. The attack upon Pearl Harbor was seen by government as a direct attack upon the sovereignty of the United States itself, as have been other armed skirmishes on protectorates of the american government in other decades. During WW II it is often forgotten that about 400 of our ships were sunk in sight of american shores by Nazi U-boats. So, indeed these and other examples would suggest a serious need to prudently rethink, reconfigure and reform our domestic defense plan and forces which has long been neglected.
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