Bastrop quiet on eve of Jade Helm 15

Although the Army says it’s nothing more than a routine operation for a small special forces group, the oddly named exercise has touched a nerve with disaffected Texans who don’t trust the federal government.

In Texas, soldiers are expected to train at Camps Bullis and Swift, as well as more than a dozen counties, including: Burleson, Brazos, Edwards, Howard, Hudspeth, Kimble, Martin, Marion, Real, Schleicher and Tom Green. This is not the first time, however, that the U.S. Army has conducted training exercises against hypothetical and hostile combatants: past operations include guerilla warfare in North Carolina and insurgencies in Florida. Old relics on display outside of the American Legion, post commander Ken Anderson admits, may be the only military hardware most will actually see.

Governor Gregg Abbott ordered the Texas State Guard to monitor Jade Helm.

That’s pretty much what Dan Whitaker at Dan’s Guns and Stuff figures will happen when the military wraps up Jade Helm 15.

The Texas volunteers are just one regiment of a national effort, organized by 44-year-old former Marine Pete Lanteri, a New Yorker living in Arizona with plenty of experience on civilian border patrols.

While Jade Helm will be one of the largest military training exercises ever performed on domestic soil, the operation has garnered national attention for a slightly different reason: It’s the subject of conspiracy theories propagated by wary libertarians and conservatives anxious about the potential establishment of martial law.

“It would be wonderful if we pull up and there’s two guys in Humvees getting coffee at Starbucks”.

Still, local officials say anybody who thinks the entire population Bastrop County is bracing for a declaration of martial law is just wrong.

Johnston said an Army spokesman told him at the Bastrop meeting that no foreign troops would participate in the training, but Johnston was still concerned. “And we believe we have the right to monitor it on public land, and that’s what we’re going to do”. Look at the places they’re picking: steep terrain, desert. Some, including Johnston, are licensed to carry concealed firearms, but he stressed that, “We’re there as the neighborhood watch: see what they’re doing, observe and report”.

Such is the chatter in Bastrop on the eve of Jade Helm. Quickly, conspiracy theories formed and residents expressed their concerns about the program invading their hometown. “This must stop”. “There are about 125,000 US troops stationed here in Texas every day”, he said, referring to active military personnel stationed at bases, forts, and camps throughout the state. But that’s what they want you to think, sheeple. “The majority of people in our county are appalled by that sort of attitude”. I’ve been studying a map of the United States, and I even consulted Wikipedia.