National Guard conducting Urban Training in Iowa - for Gun Dealer

From April 2-5 the National Guard in Iowa, will be going from house to house, training by looking for a "weapons dealer". This is just one training mission planned for many this year, the head of the guard said in Carroll - Arcadia Iowa.

link to article: www.carrollspaper.com...

Troops will spend Thursday, April 2, staging at a forward operations base at Carroll. The next day company leaders will conduct reconnaissance and begin patrolling the streets of Arcadia to identify possible locations of the weapons dealer.

The primary phase will be done Saturday, April 4, when convoys will be deployed from Carroll to Arcadia. Pictures of the arms dealer will be shown in Arcadia, and soldiers will go door to door asking if residents have seen the suspect.

One of the techniques we use in today's political environment is cordon and knock," Kots explained. "We ask for the head of the household, get permission to search, then have them open doors and cupboards. The homeowner maintains control. We peer over their shoulder, and the soldier uses the homeowner's body language and position to protect him."

During this phase of the operation, troops will interact with residents and media while implementing crowd-control measures and possibly treating and evacuating injured persons.

The unit will use a Blackhawk helicopter for overhead command and control, and to simulate medevacs.

Why do they have to search a house in the training, if they are only looking for a "weapons dealer"? I don't think a weapons dealer would be hidding in a cabinet, etc. It gets even better, they will be searching cars etc.

In addition to surveillance, searching and apprehension, the exercise will also give the troops valuable experience in stability, support, patrol, traffic control, vehicle searches and other skills needed for deployment in an urban environment.

"This exercise will improve the real-life operational skills of the unit," said Kots. "And it will hopefully improve the public's understanding of military operations

"It will be important for us to gain the trust and confidence of the residents of Arcadia," said Kots. "We will need to identify individuals that are willing to assist us in training by allowing us to search their homes and vehicles and to participate in role-playing."

Now it seems strange they will be having the "military doing this, instead of the police.

When did the military become the policer of "arms dealers"

The chatter on the web from weapons forums is plenty, and I don't believe I have seen one person happy about it!

This does not seem right, to have the military doing it.




[edit on 20-2-2009 by questioningall]

[edit on 20-2-2009 by questioningall]

[edit on 20-2-2009 by questioningall]

I think the first quote in my signature says it all.

This is absurd. The military's role is to defend our nation, not enforce the law.

A very scary thought. Wonder what happens if this was real and you didn't cooperate?

Let's face it, our government no longer believes in Innocent Until Proven Guilty. They no longer care about chasing criminals as long as they can treat all of us as criminals. Pretty dang pathetic. :shk:

reply to post by questioningall


All I can is WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!

Wow, now that is some scary ish right there. As has already been said, this should be a matter for the police, not the military.
Gotta get those soldiers ready for martial law i guess.

Blogs and other internet sites are calling and titling it :

Weapons Confiscation Training by National Guard

But I did not, due to the headline and article did not say they were confiscating weapons.
But it is all over the place now and getting attention on blogs.

You left out this part:

Alpha Company will conduct a review of the drill on Sunday, April 5.

A meeting to give residents more information and accept volunteers will be held 7 p.m. Monday, March 2, in the Arcadia American Legion hall.

. . . . .

The pre-drill work with residents is as important at the drill itself.

"It will be important for us to gain the trust and confidence of the residents of Arcadia," said Kots. "We will need to identify individuals that are willing to assist us in training by allowing us to search their homes and vehicles and to participate in role-playing."

"We really want to get as much information out there as possible, because this operation could be pretty intrusive to the people of Arcadia."

They aren't just going to random people's houses and asking or demanding to search, they are asking for volunteers to role-play and assist them in this drill. If residents do not want to participate, they don't have to.

Edit: They need to do this type of training because this is part of what they do overseas. They search for specific people and confiscate weapons in some areas depending on the circumstances. No need to get up in arms about it.

[edit on 20-2-2009 by Jenna]

reply to post by Jenna



Yes that is right BUT the question IS .... WHY is the military doing this type of training? There is NO cause ANYWHERE for them to "search people's homes and cars" - thus there is NO REASON for them to do this training. Now if it was the "police" it would not raise as many "red flags" for me and others, but it is the military doing it.

Under our consitution the military is NOT suppose to do these things on U.S. soil Yeah, I know they have been around since Oct. 1st 08, but that has "supposively" been for any emergency.

I don't see how searching people's homes would be needed in an "emergency" for the guard.

reply to post by questioningall


I think I may have edited my last post while you were typing. The military searches for specific people and conduct weapons searches in some areas overseas. In order to do so, they have to know what they are doing. Thus they are conducting training for it. They don't just go overseas and blow stuff up, they also act as a police force in areas that need it. I know they do in Bosnia for sure, and I would imagine that they do in other areas as well.

reply to post by Jenna



Sorry that doesn't fly, in doing it for "other" places in the world.
They can practice doing those things on a base, but actually going house to house in the U.S. for training....... never has been done before..... so why now? Especially since we have troops on U.S. soil now.... no this is wrong.

reply to post by Jenna


Jenna!!!!!! They have bases already set up for urban warfar training!!!! There is one just 100 miles from where I live!!!!




[edit on 20-2-2009 by Cloudsinthesky]

In addition to surveillance, searching and apprehension, the exercise will also give the troops valuable experience in stability, support, patrol, traffic control, vehicle searches and other skills needed for deployment in an urban environment.

"This exercise will improve the real-life operational skills of the unit," said Kots. "And it will hopefully improve the public's understanding of military operations

"It will be important for us to gain the trust and confidence of the residents of Arcadia," said Kots. "We will need to identify individuals that are willing to assist us in training by allowing us to search their homes and vehicles and to participate in role-playing."

Well. You know that either Afghanistan is going to look like New York very soon or the army will be used in America.

Otherwise this sort of training isn't of any use.

Because according to most people, the us will get out of Iraq and in Afghanistan, I doubt they let the ``homeowner control the whole thing``.

And search vehicules... Right, like they have vehicules in Afghanistan.

implementing crowd-control measures

Yeah in Afghanistan, they have riots... NOT.

[edit on 20-2-2009 by Vitchilo]

reply to post by Cloudsinthesky


They aren't doing urban warfare training. They are running a drill where they are searching for one specific person and require volunteers to role-play. There's a difference between the two.


reply to post by questioningall


I don't set up the training schedules so I'm the wrong person to ask why now or why this particular town. Where do you propose the train then if not on American soil? Perhaps we should make them wait until they are Iraq or Afghanistan and then let them learn in the middle of a dangerous situation rather than one that can be controlled.

Originally posted by Jenna

They aren't just going to random people's houses and asking or demanding to search, they are asking for volunteers to role-play and assist them in this drill. If residents do not want to participate, they don't have to.

Edit: They need to do this type of training because this is part of what they do overseas. They search for specific people and confiscate weapons in some areas depending on the circumstances. No need to get up in arms about it.

[edit on 20-2-2009 by Jenna]

There are plenty of abandoned military towns they could use to perform this training. For that matter, why not on-base military housing for that matter? Why does the public need to be involved at all? The military has more than enough resources to play all sides of their role playing games.

There is absolutely no defensible or logical reason to involve civilians, especially in their own homes, in any type of military training exercise. This is blatant integration of domestic law enforcement, nothing less.

Unit541

Jenna's comments frighten me! It sounds like the typical government response............"Oh this is just training, nothing to worry about" "Let us practice searching and take your guns away from you, Its okay this will never happen here"



[edit on 20-2-2009 by Cloudsinthesky]

[edit on 20-2-2009 by Cloudsinthesky]

reply to post by Unit541


You are absolutely right, what about all those military families on bases with houses! Why aren't they doing this type of training there?

It is to get the public - OK with the fact the military are on our streets, also they will have a blackhawk helicopter flying overhead the whole time.



[edit on 20-2-2009 by questioningall]

Just like New Orleans just a couple weeks ago!!

reply to post by Unit541


True, except the real world isn't abandoned. They don't go to abandoned countries when they are shipped overseas. They don't go to abandoned buildings when they are searching for someone. They go to fully populated places where they have to interact with real people. Training and asking for volunteers allows them to practice in a controlled environment with real people. For heavens sake they aren't taking over a town and busting in doors. They are asking for volunteers!

Again, I am not the one who schedules or proposes training or training sites so I am the wrong person to ask. They could do this on a military base, and honestly I'm a bit befuddled as to why they aren't this time. But as was stated in the article, they are hoping to give the public a better insight into how they do their jobs. It doesn't do any good to just show people who live on base, they already know since they are either in the military or the spouse or child of someone who is. Perhaps they are hoping that with a bit of education the public will stop freaking out every time they so much as move a vehicle from one base to another.



reply to post by Cloudsinthesky


Well, the way I see it we all have two choices. We can either panic every time the military does anything, or we can realize that not everything is part of some big conspiracy to take over the world and put everyone in chains. Personally, I prefer not to panic until something nefarious actually happens. If the military ever actually starts rounding people up I will be more than happy to tell you that you are right. Until then, I understand that training is necessary.

Would you rather they not tell anyone that they are doing training? I can hear the outcry now if they were to stop telling people that they are going to do training in or near a town. When 9/11 happened people were outraged that there wasn't a quick enough response. When Katrina happened people were outraged that there wasn't a quick enough response. When the next disaster happens people will be outraged if there isn't a quick enough response. If they don't train, they can't respond quickly enough and people will die. I'd much rather they train now than wait until something else happens and then wonder why they can't do their jobs.


Edit: added forgotten words. My mind worked faster than my fingers there for a second.

[edit on 20-2-2009 by Jenna]

Originally posted by Vitchilo
And search vehicules... Right, like they have vehicules in Afghanistan.

implementing crowd-control measures

Yeah in Afghanistan, they have riots... NOT.

Are you seriously saying that there are no vehicles in Afghanistan? I can't decide if you really believe that or if you are attempting to be sarcastic.

reply to post by Jenna


That is a lame excuse " for people to see how they do their jobs", people see it on the news, when they show the military going into homes.

I sure don't need to see the military on U.S. soil going house to house for training. They want to do this training - do not do it to "normal" citizens, do it on a base - go through the military's house, cupboards and search their cars.

Spin it whatever way you want, but something is wrong with this picture.

Also - I would love it - if they did NOT get any "volunteers", I know I should would not "volunteer" for the military to search my house for "training".