From: m0102@tnc.UUCP (FRANK NEY)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns
Subject: The War On Drugs and the National Guard
Summary: How the NG is subverting the constitution
Keywords: Army Drugs Rights Guard Posse Comitatus
Date: 28 Dec 92 21:08:26 GMT
Reply-To: m0102@tnc.UUCP (FRANK NEY)
Organization: The Next Challenge, Fairfax, Va.


From "JUSTICIA", the newsletter of Judicial Process Commission,
Inc., 121 N. Fitzhugh Street, Rochester, New York  14614 (716)
325- 7727, Clare Regan, Editor
 
From December 1992 issue of JUSTICIA, page 1
 
           NATIONAL GUARD INVOLVEMENT IN THE DRUG WAR
                          by Ed Vaughn
 
"Our Commander-in-Chief has declared war on drugs.  Our mission 
as America's National Guard in this war is clear: make America 
drug-free in as short a time as possible using any means 
necessary no matter what the cots."  Lt. Gen. John B. Conway, 
Chief, National Guard Bureau (Spoken at the 1991 National Guard 
Association Conference) 
 
National Guard Goals for the 90's:
     -Goal #3:  A steadily increasing role in the War on Drugs -
involving a rapid expansion of National Guard support  of local, 
State and Federal law enforcement agencies in the interdiction 
and eradication of illegal drugs.  (Posted at all National Guard 
armories and bases) 
 
To begin this paper, it is best to answer the question, "Why is 
the National Guard so involved in the War on Drugs?"  The answer 
to this question goes far beyond the obvious fact that with the 
end of the Cold War, America's military has needed something to 
do with all the money and material that our Government supplies 
it with.  The answer lies in legality.  As Army Chief of Staff 
Gen. Gordon R.  Sullivan said in a speech to the 1991 National 
Guard Association: 
 
     "You (the National Guard) represent us in uniform in ways 
     that the active forces cannot unless central laws are 
     changed.  You are part of a Total Army dedicated to
     protecting our values and our way of life."
 
The "law" that General Sullivan refers to is a law called the 
Posse Comitatus Act of 1879.  This law was designed to protect 
Americans against abuse by their own military by dictating that 
federal troops could not enter private land or dwellings, and 
could not detain or search civilians.  The key to the National 
Guard's involvement in the drug war is the word "federal" 
contained in the Posse Comitatus law by hiding behind the state 
missions given it by the National Guard Bureau.  The national 
Guard has, since 1912, had a two-tier mission to serve both the 
State and Federal Governments. 
 
Under Public Law 100-456 passed by Congress in 1988 authorizing 
an "enhanced role" in drug interdiction and surveillance by the 
National Guard, Guardsmen can work under Title 32 of the United 
States Code in an "Active Duty for Special Work" status.  This 
means that while the soldier's paycheck and other benefits such 
as medical care and retirement come from the Federal Government, 
he or she is working for the state governor and is not under 
federal control.  The Guard members involved in counternarcotics 
operations are therefore not bound by the Posse Comitatus Act. 
 
Guardsmen in Title 32 status can undertake vehicle searches,
searches of buildings, and can enter private property without any
sort of search warrant or any other legal permission.  The only
authorization a Guardsman on Active Duty for Special Work status
needs to search anything is the permission of his or her immediate
commander, i.e. the officer in charge of the group at the time.
(National Guard Regulation 584-3, Section II, page 6)
 
As of this writing, both the National Guard Association and the
department of Defense are lobbying Congress to repeal the Posse
Comitatus Act of 1879.  The Act has already been diluted in a major
way.  It used to be that an individual Guardsman on Active Duty
for Special Work status was restricted to 179 days of such duty in
a single year.  As part of Public Law 100-456, this restriction
was lifted, allowing Guardsmen to make a permanent assignment out
of drug interdiction.  As of today, the average time a drug-
interdicting Guard member has been serving on active duty is a
whopping two years and eight months, nearly as long as the average
Active Army enlistment (National Guard personnel statistics,
January 1992).
 
Why are Guardsmen opting to go on active duty?  The main reason is
money.  Ninety percent of the over 7,000 Guard members across the
country serving on active duty for drug interdiction were in
civilian law enforcement before they went on active duty (National
Guard Almanac, 1991).  These people were earning an average of
$24,000 per year, the average salary of a police officer in the
United States (U.S. Dept. of Labor).  When a Guard member goes on
interdiction duty he or she is paid as if they were at war.
 
Below is an example of the earnings of these soldiers.  The rate 
of pay used is that for an E-4, the most common rank in the Army, 
one which an enlisted man typically reaches after four years of 
Guard service and that of a Captain, a rank a Guard officer 
typically reaches after four years of service. 
 
     Monthly E-4 Base Pay               $ 1250 
     Basic Quarters Allowance              450 
     Hazardous Duty Pay                    500 
     Combat Pay                            400 
     Subsistence Pay                       300 
     Total Monthly Pay                    2900 
     Total Yearly Pay                    34800
 
Also, remember that only the base pay is taxable.  In other 
words, out of that $34,800 per year, only $15,000 is subject to 
any income of Social Security taxes.  Also, Guard members on 
Title 32 duty are eligible for all active duty benefits, 
including full medical and dental care for the Guardsman and his 
family, non-contributory 20-year retirement, and exchange and 
commissary privileges. 
 
Higher ranking people, of course, make even more.  The average 
rank of an Army helicopter pilot or leader of a hemp chopping 
team of 12 soldiers, called a squad, is 0-3, or Captain.  When a 
Guard Captain goes on active duty to spot pot patches from the 
air or to lead a squad of soldiers on harvesting missions, here's 
what he or she gets paid by Uncle Sam for the job:  (This pay is 
based on four years' service, average for a Captain.) 
 
     Monthly O-3 Base Pay               $ 2250 
     Basic Quarters Allowance              500 
     Hazardous Duty Pay                    500 
     Combat Pay                            400 
     Flight Pay                            450 
     Subsistence Pay                       300 
     Total Monthly Pay                    4400 
     Total Yearly Pay                    52800
 
Only $27,000 of that is taxable.  You can see that there are 
people that have enormous incentive to keep the War on Drugs 
going full tilt. 
 
Another side of this monetary situation is that of military
contractors.  These private companies have much to gain from
continued escalation in military spending.  Everyone from the
builders of military helicopters to the manufacturers of infrared
night vision equipment have a large stake in the War on Drugs.
Let me share with you some of the prices of some major pieces of
drug interdiction equipment to illustrate just what sort of
financial stake these companies have in the drug war:
 
Cessna Citation interceptor jet              $678,000 
UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter                   247,000 
UH-43 Apache helicopter                       127,000 
Litton individual night vision goggles          6,000 
Litton aircraft night vision system           247,000 
General Motors Wheeled Light Armored Vehicle  785,000
 
Obviously, these companies, such as Litton Microwave Instruments 
and General Motors, want the Government to order as many of these 
items as it can find uses for. (Source for prices: Actual 
military logistics lists.) 
 
National Guard activities in drug interdiction have been steadily 
increasing since 1983, when the California Guard supported the 
state's Campaign Against Marijuana Planting, or CAMP.  CAMP set 
the precedent for the Guard activities that continue today.  As 
of October 1992, counterdrug Guardsmen on active duty numbered 
about 7000.  As of August 1992, 19,495 National Guard-assisted 
arrests were made this year, almost three times as many as for 
the entire of 1991.  Also, figures indicate that 529,756 pounds 
of marijuana were seized by the Guard as of the end of August 
1992.  The total for the entire year of 1991 was 183,281 pounds. 
 
How did the Guard accomplish this marvelous achievement?  Simple. 
Guardsmen have searched 120,000 cars so far in 1992, as opposed 
to only 45,000 in all of 1991.  Also, Guardsmen have entered 
1,230 privately owned buildings so far in 1992, compared to only 
436 in all of 1991.  Guardsmen, as of October 1992, have made 
6,537 uninvited intrusions onto private property as opposed to 
about 2,500 in all of 1991. (Source: Department of Defense 
statistics.) 
 
The number of Guardsmen on drug interdiction active duty during 
any given month has increased from about 300 in 1988 to the 
present 7,000.  In 1989, the first year that Congress actually 
earmarked funding for National Guard counterdrug activities, $40 
million was budgeted.  In Fiscal Year 1992, that budget was $295 
million, which amounts to 27 percent of all non-capital Guard 
spending.  For FY 1993, Guard counterdrug budget estimates are 
running about $420 million. 
 
"America is caught up in the most pervasive drug epidemic in 
history.  An epidermic that transcends the health, economy, and 
general well being of our nation.  The rapid growth of this drug 
scourge has shown that military force must be used to change the 
attitudes and activities of Americans who are dealing and using 
drugs.  The National Guard is America's legally feasible 
attitude-change agent."  Col. Richard R. Browning, III, Chief, 
Drug Demand Reduction Section, National Guard Bureau. 
 
The following table, taken from the National Guard Almanac, shows
the rapid growth of National Guard Activities in Drug interdiction
and eradication.  
    
                         Participating
                         No. of Guard
Fiscal Year              Jurisdictions  *           Missions
    1983                       4                        4 
    1984                      14                       14 
    1985                      20                      209 
    1986                      21                      222 
    1987                      25                      376 
    1988                      32                      456 
    1989                      53                     1811 
    1990                      54                     5155 
    1991                      54                     5815
 
*50 states plus Guam, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, and American
Samoa
 
According to the National Guard newspaper, "On Guard," sixteen 
different counterdrug missions have been approved for the Guard, 
including reconnaissance, ground radar support, vehicle 
inspection, marijuana detection, marijuana eradication, drug lab 
detection, film processing, and weapons support.  This "weapons 
support" includes everything from the M16A2 automatic rifles and 
9 mm semi- automatic Beretta pistols that individual drug 
eradication soldiers are armed with and have authority to use 
against civilians with a mere word from their commanding officer, 
to the Hawk missile radar and OV/ID infra-red detection equipment 
used so often now. 
 
The Active Army is also lending large amounts of support to the 
drug war while barely skirting the bounds of the posse Comitatus 
Act.  In fact, drug interdiction has been adopted as one of the 
Active Army's major missions for the 1990s.  In a publication 
issued by the Army Chief of Staff in January 1990, the Army's two 
strategic roles of utmost importance are as follows: 
    - Maintain combat-ready ground forces in the Continental 
United States for deployment worldwide. 
    - Participate in disaster relief, emergency assistance, 
interdiction of illegal drug traffic and eradication of 
domestically produced illegal drugs. 
 
In an Active Army publication titled "Tomorrow's Missions," Lt. 
Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III, the Army Chief of Staff for 
operations and Plans, asserts that in the Army of the 90's, 
"military forces are required to provide domestic nation 
assistance such as internal peacekeeping and anti-drug operations 
and support of civil authorities to maintain stability in a 
rapidly changing America.: 
 
"We can look forward to the day when our Congress repeals the 
Posse Comitatus Act and allow the Army to lend its full strength 
toward making America drug-free." 
    - Stephen M. Duncan, Assistant Secretary of Defense (Spoken 
at the 1991 conference of the Association of the United States 
Army) 
 
The Active Army is supporting the drug war in a number of 
indirect ways.  The following facts come from "Soldiers" 
magazine, the taxpayer-financed official magazine of the U.S. 
Army, distributed monthly to about a million Active and Reserve 
soldiers and Army Guardsmen and civilians. 
 
-The U.S. Army Military Police School at Fort McClellan, Alabama 
is providing, free of charge, training in advanced police 
techniques and military aggression tactics to any law enforcement 
organization or member thereof who requests it due to drug 
problems in his jurisdiction.  In fact, the most often requested 
course is the Field Tactical Police Operations course, which is 
designed for law enforcement personnel involved in marijuana 
eradication programs.  Some of the subjects offered in this 
course include courses in shotgun and submachine gun usage, night 
drug raids, and land navigation. 
 
-A Large Active Army unit based at Headquarters, Forces Command 
in Fort McPherson, GA arranges drug interdiction logistical and 
command support for civilian law enforcement agencies.  This 
unit, Joint Task Force Six, is one of three task forces organized 
to help fight the drug war.  These three task forces are manned 
by a total of 2,600 Active Army personnel and about 400 Army 
civilians. 
 
-The Active Army operates the National Interagency Counterdrug 
Institute, a school at Camp San Luis Obispo, CA, which is staffed 
by soldiers who train civilian anti-drug law enforcement 
personnel in drug eradication and interdiction and also teaches 
civilian agencies how best to make use of military assets in 
support of counterdrug operations.  The Active Army is able to 
get under the Posse Comitatus Act in operating this school by 
staffing it with California Guardsmen and because Camp San Luis 
Obispo is owned by the Guard. 
 
The paper attempts to effectively portray the rapidly escalating 
role of America's military in the War on Drugs.  While it 
certainly does not cover all that could be possibly covered, the 
obvious aggression against the American people and the military's 
ruthless attack on individual freedom in the name of perpetuating 
their bureaucracy is well documented.  Also, this paper is a very 
effective synopsis of what I know about the Guard's escalating 
role in the War on Drugs. 
 
(Ed Vaughan is a former member of the military who is deeply 
concerned about the use of the military in the drug war.) 
 
-30-

Hmmm.  Drugs first, firearms next?  Food for thought.

Frank Ney N4ZHG EMT-A  NRA ILA GOA CCRTKBA "M-O-U-S-E"
Commandant and Acting President, Northern Virginia Free Militia
Send e-mail for an application and more information
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"Whether the authorities be invaders or merely local tyrants, the 
effect of such [gun] laws is to place the individual at the mercy of 
the state, unable to resist."
       - Robert Heinlein, in a 1949 letter concerning "Red Planet"
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