Is the U.S. Military preparing for martial law in “exercises” within certain “hostile” American states this summer ?

What is the U.S. Army, subject to Obama as Commander-in-Chief, up to now ?

Army admits that there is an exercise called  “Operation Jade Helm 15” that will take place for about two months in the late summer of 2015, and it will take place in Texas and several other Southwestern states

All U.S. citizens in Utah and Texas are to be designated “hostile”

According to Fox News, “[c]onspiracy theories are running wild over the Army’s planned multi-state training exercise this summer. ***   Green Berets, Navy SEALs and Special Operations forces will conduct realistic training exercises from July to September across the southwest – including in 17 Texas cities. ***   The exercise, called Jade Helm 15, has critics worried that the Army is preparing for modern-day martial law. Some are even calling it “the Texas takeover....” (See “Some Americans Think the Army is Prepping for Modern-Day Martial Law ? ! ” by Megyn Kelly and staff, 3/26/15, Fox News/ The Kelly File [http://insider.foxnews.com/2015/03/26/some-americans-think-army-prepping-modern-day-martial-law]).

THE MAINSTREAM & OFFICIAL REPORTS ON WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT 

Members of U.S. Army Special Operations Command [USASOC] will be training with other U.S Armed Forces units between July 15th and September 15th  in a large interstate exercise called “Jade Helm 15.”  According to reports from official sources, from time to time, the USASOC conducts training exercises such as these to practice core special warfare tasks, which help protect the nation against foreign enemies. It is imperative that Special Operations Soldiers receive the best training, equipment and resources possible.

While multi-state training exercises such as these are not unique to the military, the size and scope of Jade Helm 15 sets this one apart. To stay ahead of the environmental challenges faced overseas, the Jade Helm operation will take place across seven states. However, Army Special Operations Forces (ARSOF) will only train in five states: Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado. The PR team has indicated that the diverse terrain in these states replicates areas Special Operations Soldiers regularly find themselves operating in overseas.

Essentially, all exercise activities will be taking place on pre-coordinated public and private lands with the permission of the private landowners, as well as from state and local authorities.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, “Operation Jade Helm will see 1,200 service members including Green Berets and SEALs and special forces from the Air Force and Marines in July....
Soldiers armed with blank rounds will operate in and around towns in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah and Colorado for 8 weeks.... The so-called Realistic Military Training has some residents fearful the drill is a preparation for martial law....”  (See “Special forces set to swarm  Southwest and operate undetected among civilians in massive military exercise” by DailyMail.com reporter, 3/26/15 [Updated 3/27/15], Daily Mail/ DailyMail.com [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3013900/Fears-martial-law-special-ops-set-swarm-Southwest-operate-undetected-civilians-ve-deemed-HOSTILE-massive-military-exercise.html]).

The Daily Mail goes on to say that “... [s]even Southwestern states will soon be infiltrated by 1,200 military special ops personnel as part of a controversial domestic military training in which some of the elite soldiers will operate undetected among civilians.... But with residents of the entire states of Texas and Utah dubbed 'hostile' for the purposes of the exercises, Jade Helm has some concerned the drills are too realistic....”

The U.S. Special Operations Command readily acknowledges and even has openly reported on its upcoming Jade Helm exercises in a standard press release (See “PRESS RELEASE: Exercise readies SOF for threats abroad” [RELEASE NUMBER: 150324-03], 3/24/15, USASOC HQ/ USASOC Links [http://www.soc.mil/UNS/Releases/2015/March/150324-03.html]); and many news outlets have been dismissive of the internet brouhaha over the possibility of a  U.S. military conspiracy ( See e.g., “Army says Jade Helm’s a training op coming to Texas this summer. Internet says it’s a takeover!” by Robert Wilonsky, 3/26/15, Dallas News/ The Scoop Blog [http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2015/03/army-says-jade-helms-a-training-op-comi]); see also “Covert warfare coming to Texas sparks some fears of federal takeover” by Dylan Baddour, 3/25/15, Houston Chronicle [http://www.chron.com/news/article/Covert-warfare-comming-to-Texas-6157685.php#photo-7713764]).

Nonetheless. there are still a .wide range of internet sources sounding the alarm ( See e.g., “JADE HELM: TROOPS TO ‘OPERATE UNDETECTED AMONGST CIVILIAN POPULATION’ –  Role players to practice infiltrating towns during controversial exercise” by Paul Joseph Watson, 3/26/15, [Alex Jones’] Infowars/ infowars.com [http://www.infowars.com/jade-helm-troops-to-operate-undetected-amongst-civilian-population/]; Also note: the Houston Chronicle article, cited above [catalogues several of the sources of the “conspiracy” controversy surrounding the Jade Helm exercise, including the Infowars blog and Alex Jones’ radio program out of Austin, Texas] ).

THE ALEX JONES – INFOWARS TAKE ON THE WHOLE THING

According to the Alex Jones’ Infowars article mentioned in the paragraph above, “[a] key component of the controversial Jade Helm military exercise set to take part in nine U.S. states this summer will involve soldiers operating “undetected amongst civilian populations,” to see if they can infiltrate without being noticed... [and] that soldiers will attempt to blend in with the local population in an effort to test the effectiveness of infiltration techniques. Residents will be advised to report “suspicious activity” during the exercise....  They’re going to set up cells of people and test how well they’re able to move around without getting too noticed in the community,” said Roy Boyd, chief deputy with the Victoria County Sheriff’s Office. ‘They’re testing their abilities to basically blend in with the local environment and not stand out and blow their cover.’...  By directly involving unwitting members of the local population, this aspect of the drill contradicts the Army’s assertion that, ‘The public can expect nothing much different from their day-to-day activities since much of exercise will be conducted in remote areas.’...  Jim Stewart, chief deputy with the Brazos County Sheriff’s Office, [said] that the designation of Texas as ‘hostile territory’ was merely a way of setting up a role playing exercise under which soldiers operate behind enemy lines....  The Army has failed to specifically address why Texas, Utah and a pocket of southern California were labeled as hostile territories in training documents for the exercise, merely insisting that the drill is designed to prepare troops for foreign occupations and has nothing to do with preparations for martial law....” [Much of the Infowars’ specific information about Jade Helm exercises comes from the Houston Chronicle article cited above.]

Infowars’ concluding remarks are ominous: “...  Despite assurances that the training is to prepare troops for overseas missions, Army documents in the past have made clear that plans for martial law are in place for within the Continental United States (CONUS). ***  A leaked 2012 US Army Military Police training manual, entitled ‘Civil Disturbance Operations,’ described how soldiers would be ordered to confiscate firearms and kill American ‘dissidents.’  The manual also revealed that prisoners would be detained in temporary internment camps and ‘re-educated’ to gain a new appreciation of ‘U.S. policies,’ in accordance with U.S. Army FM 3-19.40 Internment/Resettlement Operations. ***   Jade Helm has also drawn comparisons to a 2012 scenario outlined by retired Army colonel Kevin Benson, in which the U.S. Military is used to crush an insurgent rebellion overseen by Tea Party militia members who take over the city of Darlington, South Carolina.”