That was the Militia

Posted By: Clyde - Houston, TX
Date: 6/28/08 11:13a.m.

Report: outside forum guidelines

In Response To: how soon we forget... (pic) (dave)

The state militias, now called the National Guard, are citizen soldiers under the command of the state governor. In the United States federal troops are not allowed to be armed if they are deployed during a national emergency within the United States unless it's to stop an insurrection. Only the National Guard, citizen soldiers, can be armed when called up by the state governor to keep the peace. Federal troops patrolling the streets of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina had their weapons, but it was unloaded, accompanying the federal troops were National Guard soldiers who were armed. The request for federal troops must be formally requested by the state governor directly to the President before federal troops can be deployed in the United States. The exceptions of deploying federal troops within the United States without a governor's request is during an insurrection or upholding federal law. During the Civil Rights movement when the US Supreme Court ruled against school segregation, federal troops were used to enforce the law. In 1957 101st Airborne was called up by the President to protect the "Little Rock Nine", the President also federalized all of the National Guard units in the state of Arkansas. President Eisenhower's decision to send federal troops to enforce federal law and protect the nine students was a pivotal moment during the civil rights movement. Since he federalized the Arkansas National Guards, they could not be armed when providing protection to the "Little Rock Nine", the same as the 101st Airborne. President Eisenhower used the 101st Airborne first, because he wasn't positive that the Arkansas National Guard would obey the order to be called up. When the Arkansas National Guard units reported for duty, he withdrew the 101st Airborne and just used the federalized Arkansas National Guard units. President Kennedy federalized the Alabama National Guard to enforce the enrollment of two black students to the University of Alabama. By 1962 President Kennedy knew from former President Eisenhower's experience with the Arkansas National Guard, that the Alabama National Guard would obey federal orders. "The Governor, flanked by state troopers, had staged a carefully planned show of defying a Federal Court desegregation order. Mr. Wallace refused four requests this morning from a Justice Department official that he allow Miss Vivian Malone and James A. Hood, both 20 years old, to enter Foster Auditorium and register. This was in keeping with a campaign pledge that he would "stand in the schoolhouse door'' to prevent a resumption of desegregation in Alabama's educational system." "Units of the 31st (Dixie) Division, federalized on orders from President Kennedy, arrived on the campus four and a half hours later under the command of Brig. Gen. Henry V. Graham. A Birmingham real estate executive in civilian life, General Graham is the former State Adjutant General who enforced modified martial law in Montgomery, the state capital, following the Freedom Rider riots in 1961. In a voice that was scarcely audible, General Graham said that it was his "sad duty'' to order the Governor to step aside. Mr. Wallace then read the second of two statements challenging the constitutionality of court-ordered desegregation and left the auditorium with his aides for Montgomery." The last time a large number of federal soldiers fired against Americans, it was called the Civil War. After the Civil War, federal troops can only be deployed to help the civilian population in an emergency and be unarmed unless it's an insurrection. In 1967 President Johnson federalized the Michigan National Guard and sent in the 82nd Airborne to Detroit to put down the "12th Street Riot". The governor of Michigan, George Rommey, was totally incompetent and couldn't control the rioting. The rioting escalated to the point where President Johnson declared a "State of Insurrection" and federalized the Michigan National Guard and sent in armed federal troops to stop the rioting. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12th_Street_riot