This from Bill Arkin, highly reliable military affairs correspondent and co-author (with Dana Priest) of the one the best books about the secret sector of the U.S. government.
Activated on March 16, Joint Task Force National Capital Region (JTF-NCR) is chartered to “defend” Washington on land, in the air, and even on its waterfronts. The special task force, the only one of its kind in the country, demonstrates how there are two sides of government preparedness. The public face, and even the day-to-day work of most men and women assigned to JTF-NCR, is the same as it is everywhere else in the country—medical support, delivering supplies, manning health-check stations.
But the story is not quite so simple.
But behind the scenes, JTF-NCR is responsible for what the military calls “homeland defense”: what to do in the face of an armed attack on the United States, everything from guarding Washington’s skies to preparing for the civil unrest that could occur if a nuclear weapon were detonated in the capital. But most immediate, JTF-NCR is charged with facilitating continuity of government, particularly moving civil and military leaders to secret locations were the order given to evacuate the city.
The 10,000 soldier unit, including National Guard troops from Ilinois, is commanded by Major General Omar Jones IV. Their mission: protect senior U.S. officials.
Unlike other Guardsmen activated under “Title 32” orders—under gubernatorial control but paid for by the federal government—the soldiers of the 106th were activated under “Title 10” orders, strict federal duty as if they were going to be shipped off to Afghanistan or Iraq. Except that in this case, the battlefield is Washington, DC.
On that battlefield, the Illinois 106th Aviation Battalion’s helicopters would be used to evacuate everyone from Army leaders to the White House.
The Northern Command web site says JTF-NCR acts on the orders of “proper authority.” With President Trump claiming additional powers daily, that phrase is ominously vague. If Trump asserts he is “proper authority” for ordering military action in Washington DC, who is going to dispute him? Will the U.S. military chain of command obey a power-mad president?
