Soldiers recruited to be "Internment/Resettlement" specialists by a series of National Guard ads concerning "civilian resettlement" locations would have assignments overseas, not within the U.S., says a National Guard spokesman who reports members pledge to follow the U.S. Constitution and take orders from American civilian authorities.
The response came several days after WND submitted questions to the National Guard about the advertisements for "Internment" soldiers who could operate in a "civilian resettlement" center.
As WND reported, the ads were raising alarm because of a series of other government moves, including the recent Department of Homeland Security report describing those who oppose abortion or support third-party political candidates as "extremists" and the Department of Defense's own categorization of protesters as "low-level terrorists."
The ads, at the GoArmy.com website as well as others including Monster.com, cite the need for:
"Internment/Resettlement (I/R) Specialists in the Army are primarily responsible for day-to-day operations in a military confinement/correctional facility or detention/internment facility. I/R Specialists provide rehabilitative, health, welfare, and security to U.S. military prisoners within a confinement or correctional facility; conduct inspections; prepare written reports; and coordinate activities of prisoners/internees and staff personnel.
Guard spokesman Col. Michael Jones, however, told WND the job description has been around for years and is one area of specialization for members of the military police corps.
They are the ones, he said, who guard captured suspects in Afghanistan or Iraq, move them to safe locations and maintain them in secure locations until they are handled by some sort of judicial process.
"You must resettle the prisoners to an area of safety where they can be interned in a safe environment," he told WND today. "This is a specific role of a military police soldier, to be trained in the proper protection and interrogation and handling of enemy combatants on foreign soil."
Such soldiers "do not ... operate a military police role in the United States," he said.
He said the National Guard has no authority over civilians in the U.S. unless a governor declares some sort of emergency and asks for help, such as when a hurricane hits.
"I don't know of a soldier who would ever contemplate to be used or be allowed to be used against citizens of America," he said.
However, he said given such orders, National Guard troops will handle crowds, provide security and respond to other needs within the United States.
Army job ad for 'internment' specialist |
"We follow orders and the Constitution of the United States," he confirmed.
Asked about pending plans in Washington that would put National Guard units under the direct control of Washington, he said he could not respond to "what if" questions, especially potential scenarios that would include an order to act against Americans..
"We're very fortunate in that the leaders we have have never placed us in a position that we even have to ask that question," he said.
He said he could not address the issue of how many such detention centers are operated by the U.S. government in Afghanistan or Iraq or their staffing needs, but did confirm that most operations in Iraq are being turned over step-by-step to Iraqi forces, military or police.
He referred WND to the U.S. Army for that information, and an Army spokesman contacted at the Pentagon said he could not provide that information.
Another National Guard spokesman, Mark Allen, said, "We ran the ad, but the soldiers that we recruit and train are primarily trained so they can be deployed overseas. We envision that eventually people get deployed and they'll be responsible for internment and relocation of people overseas."
He said such "Internment" specialists are recruited just like cooks or other positions.
A WND reader said while such explanations are reasonable, the job opportunity description is either bad timing or bad taste, because with the circumstances of government takeovers of the insurance, banking and auto industries, as well as plans to nationalize health care with provisions including government access to bank accounts, suspicion certainly is reasonable.
"While I believe that most people are inherently good, and would not seek to harm their fellow man, I also believe that many people would accept such a job with the state out of desperation. When provoked, a desperate person is capable of anything, including the unlawful detention of citizens at the behest of his government," he wrote.
Another observer wrote that the issue of "Internment" specialists was a mountain being made out of a molehill.
"Members of the U.S. military swear an oath to protect and defend the constitution of the United States, not any particular leader or political party," he wrote.
Still another reader confirmed he had the position as "Internment" specialist at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., for several years, back when the title was a "correctional specialist."
"Yes, we did do everything that the article stated and more," he wrote. But he said Americans should not fear soldiers.
"Do you think PFC Jones who is a part-timer is just going to follow this order to round up and secure Americans? How fast would the news travel if word got out that Americans are being imprisoned for voicing their opinions. Did you know that the public sector owns more weapons … than the entire Department of Defense?"
On the other hand, there were suspicions that weren't relieved.
A man who described himself as a former MP in California said he was told there are Federal Emergency Management Agency zones across the U.S.
"If the president calls a national emergency and enacts FEMA then constitutional government will be suspended and the National Guard takes over all law enforcement," he told WND. "The president remains the president until the emergency is over."
At a NationalGuard.com website, a front page video described the position thoroughly.
But one of the critics was a YouTube contributor who identifies himself as jafount and titled his video, "Want a job putting people into camps?"
Alarmed by the ads, he said it, the idea "just absolutely blew my mind."
Citing a promise that successful applicants would be trained in "search and restrain procedures," he said, "That's code for violating the 14th Amendment."
Likewise, he said, "use of firearms" is "code for depriving somebody of their life.'
The ads list as "advanced responsibilities" issues such as supervision and administration, responsibility for the "prisoner/internee" population, "custody/control for the operation of an Enemy Prisoner of War/Civilian Internee (EPW/CI) camp," and work on "custody/control for the operation of detention facility or the operation of a displaced civilian (CD) resettlement facility."
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