Military Presence on the Streets in Rhode Island ?

reply to post by surrealist1978


I've been following this thread for most of today, due to my close proximity to Providence. As you can all see this is my first post with ATS, but I do frequent this website. My main question is, why Providence? I think the downed communication theory makes sense for a sudden military presence, and the chilling prepare-for-riot theory might make sense too IF troops were suddenly spotted in other major cities, such as NYC, Boston, Philly, etc. Just a thought, but are there any unique characteristics about Providence that may somehow warrant a military presence? I have a friend who is a Marine based in RI and I'll ask him if he knows anything.

There is a website for Northcom,or USNorthcom,
it's up to yourself to look for it.
You will see,after a long read that it is responsible
since 2002 for homeland security and will include
troops prepared for deployment on the streets if needed.
However,it does not have its own designated troops so
they will have to come from serving troops somewhere else.
By definition those troops will have to be retrained for
special duties on the streets,
which should include non-lethal weapons,
road blocks etc.
It could also be that the National Guard
has been subsumed by Northcom
and could be subordinate to it,
you have to make your own mind up as to that.

Originally posted by Butter Cookie
It's pretty much like that here in Memphis TN too...POLICE ARE EVERYWHERE!!!! They do sit on the side of the expressway in new model jeeps...they are out more than ever before...Its ridiculous..We ARE in a police state

[edit on 8-3-2009 by Butter Cookie]

And people out there accuse Alex Jones of being a quack. If there was ever a person out there who you could trust for the truth... it's Alex Jones.

this is a reply for....a747freak

Rhode Island's tradition of independence and dissent gave it a prominent role in the American Revolution. In 1772, the first bloodshed of the American Revolution took place in Rhode Island when a band of Providence residents attacked a grounded British ship for enforcing unpopular British trade regulations. This incident would come to be known as the Gaspee Affair. Keeping with its culture of defiance, Rhode Island was the first of the original thirteen colonies to declare its independence from Great Britain (May 4, 1776, and the last to ratify the Constitution, doing the latter only after being threatened with having its exports taxed as a foreign nation. During the Revolution, the British occupied Newport. A combined Franco-American force fought to drive them off of Aquidneck Island. Portsmouth was the site of the first African American military unit, the 1st Rhode Island Regiment, to fight for the U.S. in the Battle of Rhode Island August 29, 1778. The arrival of a far superior French fleet forced the British to scuttle their own ships, rather than surrender them to the French.

I could be completely wrong on this theory but could history have a part to play it can or could repeat itself.......I don't live in the US but the UK the above is just a thought thats all, I don't want to go off on a tangent, cause panic, or quote irrelevent stuff from the original OP.......like I say I live in the UK so my postings for this thread are just a theory........

[edit on 9'3/2009 by surrealist1978]

[edit on 9'3/2009 by surrealist1978]

reply to post by surrealist1978

the first bloodshed of the American Revolution took place in Rhode Island

Did not know that ... very interesting !

Although, I'm sure it's just a coincidence ...

Could it be that they started posting various military units all over the country for training excercises, only to activate them at need? They wouldn't have to know the true purpose themselves. Would be training. That's not illegal. But when TSHTF they would be conveniently located on-site.
But that's paranoid thinking. It would need to be proven.
We'd need to compile a list of all the sites nation-wide. I mean y'all would need to. I'm stuck in Europe for another couple of months... I don't even know wether that makes me any luckier than y'all. Seeing how the EU is pushing for a seemingly corupted EU-Constitution...

I haven't read this thread...

did anybody mention that Rhode Island has the second highest unemployment rate behind Michigan right now?

did anybody mention that?

Originally posted by Doomsday 2029
I haven't read this thread...

did anybody mention that Rhode Island has the second highest unemployment rate behind Michigan right now?

did anybody mention that?

www.msnbc.msn.com...

Yeah, the state has been hit hard. You can just feel it in the air.

Having read the whole thread i would love to say this is nothing to be concerned about.. So many people look at the coast guard as nothing to concern... Being lived in the united states for many years now i have see many soldiers around everywhere, being brought back from combat, taking care of "inner" problems like this may be the case. Look at it as security and be glad it is there, find out of course why.. Which in this case you are trying to find the why.. Could be bank problems could even be a bomb threat or some like on the school u have said of.. But always be glad for these troops.. The why is what is important here.

Great things can become, be a part, and always realize family and true friends will be behind you.

reply to post by squidboy


Wasn't we going to get some pics and an update from you today?

Originally posted by jd140
reply to post by squidboy

 

Wasn't we going to get some pics and an update from you today?

Didn't have a chance to check out Smith St. I carpool to work, and went a different way today (basically straight onto the highway). Also, my work schedule runs from 11-7, and I do not have the time to go tracking down soldiers that are out of the way .

I did not see anything unusual on my commute today.

It's importan that a couple of other witnesses have come forward in this thread, if you read through you will see that.... Including a woman, whose brother in law works is a North Providence Police Office. She saw the same soldiers. And an eye witness, who gave links (if you look on his twitter page, you will see the correspondence with the North Providence Police Department via Twitter).

I'm driving tomorrow, in that specific area, and so I will bring a camera just in case. Not getting hopes up, but if I see anything, trust me I will post about it. I want to see this stuff as much as anyone else.

I'm dying to find out what others saw in Rhode Island. I'm still hoping it was nothing, but North Com training of some sort (like the Nevada pics). As of now, I haven't seen anything, but have relayed eye witness accounts. The credibility of my sources alarmed me, and I was hoping to find out some answers.

I was not trying to cause a debate or scare others. I was curious.

It's not every day that you hear soldiers are in a suburb/ city, standing around in the middle of traffic, for no particular reason.

reply to post by squidboy


No I wasn't trying to call you out, I was just curious if I could spot a patch or unit insignia on their berets.

Where on smith street, my buddy owns a pawn shop their, and either him or i will try to go and get pics, due to lack of them here (no offense)

Give me a general mapquest of where they were seen and i may take a trip on my way home, out of my way, BUT Pics always help

If this is true, could it be an effort to desensitize people to the presence of military on the streets? If DOD/HLS has concerns about needing to put troops on the streets at some point in the future wouldn't it be less of a shock to people if they slowly started to see them ahead of time? I contacted a high-ranking officer in our NG to see if he had heard anything about any deployments but he had not.

IS THIS WHAT FOLKS ARE SEEING ON SMITH ST
A new component to the parade this year is a pre-parade 5K road race, which begins and ends at the State House. The race starts at 11:30 a.m.; Smith Street will be closed beginning at 10:30 a.m. To register for the race, visit stpats5k.com. The race is restricted to 3,000 entrants; so far 1,500 have registered.

www.projo.com...

to be honest, these look like pics of military training exercises and i'ld imagine that the guy in the vest is the commander and needs to stand out from the rest of them.
i wouldn't imagine vests would be used in an official field operation.

any idea what the 'system' was that needed fixing?

Hi guys
My connection to the North Prov Police knew nothing of this and is surprised to hear about it. He will try to get answers tonight from his people.

I do not think this was about the parade on the 20th.
We have many parades throughout the year and I've never noticed a military presence.

Could this be a new trend?
One has to wonder.

thats strange, I live on the North Carolina Coast not far from an army base (FT. caswell I think) but recently I have been seeing more military vehicles than usual and the other day about a week ago I was coming home the community college I attend and saw an army cargo plane landing at the municipal air port and the road to the air port was closed with police and soldiers standing at the road block. when I asked what was going on they told me and I qoute "Don't worry, its just a training drill, everything is allright" it just hasn't been sitting very well with me, something just don't feel right about it.

reply to post by shadow watcher

That's the part I find odd having seen them myself. Wouldn't our local police (North Providence/Providence) have been alerted if a training exercise literally would be taking place on the town's main street? I also assume they'd have been notified if it had anything to do with local traffic systems etc. I will point out that all three intersections where I saw them posted are home to traffic/surveillance cameras. I can't help but feel the chill of big brother run down the spine a bit.


I do apologize for my lack of photos's/inability to further describe insignias and patches, I realize it would help further a more concrete theory/understanding. I have yet to hear back from my friend in Intelligence, but the way this seems to be going perhaps he is not privy to this information either. I've lived in North Providence RI my entire life, I attend the Gaspee Day parade almost yearly as well as other parades and have never seen a military presence at a road race/parade. Police sure, shriner's in tiny cars throwing candy, of course, but never military.

Okay, so in the short time I've been on ATS, my few posts have been all but ignored. Well I hope things are different with this one, because I think I have found something about all this.

Yesterday I e-mailed a public affairs specialist, a sergeant, in the RI National Guard, and asked her if she could tell me anything. Today, at 0914 this morning, I get a call from her boss, a Lt. Colonel, telling me to call him back. That was unusual for a couple of reasons. First of all, I, being in the Army myself, was attempting to use the chain of command of sorts, and go to the sergeant first. Instead of hearing back from her, I heard from her commander... very unusual. Secondly, the Colonel sounded a little frantic, and asked me where I got the information that I was asking about, and told me to call him back as soon as I got his message. He made it very clear that I need to call him back very soon.

I hope for my sake that I haven't ruined my military career, and I hope for all of our sakes that this isn't going to be a big deal. I will post again with an update once I talk to the Colonel. I have a feeling this is our best bet as far as finding out any real info on this matter.