Y2K - From A Military And Police Perspective

Mike Adams - Editor www.y2knewswire.com 5-28-99

For our Memorial Day issue, 1999, Y2KNEWSWIRE's editor, Mike Adams, interviews a United States Veteran. Here's a Veteran's perspective on Y2K events, preparedness and potential military scenarios.

Our guest wished to remain anonymous, so his identity will not be revealed. Also, certain details of his history have been modified to protect his identity.

Note: this interview contains one instance of profanity. __________

Adams: Would you give our readers a summary of your military experience?

Veteran: I was in the Marines from 1966 - 1971. My responsibility was, shall we say, spying on the enemy. We intercepted enemy communications, trying to find out where they were, their troop movements, fortifications, and basically any information we could get letting us know where they were and what they were up to.

Adams: You must have had security clearance to be involved in that, right?

Veteran: Yes, I had crypto clearance, that's higher than top secret. This was right in the middle of Vietnam, by the way. We went through the Tet Offensive in 1968.

Adams: You've heard the military has ordered 9,000 purple hearts. What does that indicate to you?

Veteran: I think the establishment is planning something. They're planning a confrontation with somebody. Whether its Kosovo or Moscow or, I don't know, but they're up to something.

Adams: What's your overall take on the Y2K situation?

Veteran: I'm thinking they're going to institute some kind of order, maybe do a Martial Law thing, but the way they stand right now, they don't have enough people to do it. On the other hand I was thinking they were going to bring a lot of foreign troops, but now I'm not sure they're going to be available. They might have their own problems. Russia, for example, I don't think they're going to be able to ship any troops over here, they're going to be busy dealing with their own problems.

Adams: You must be on contact with other active duty military personnel, correct?

Veteran: Yes.

Adams: What are they hearing about Y2K?

Veteran: They don't have any word yet. They're not telling them anything, they have no idea what's going on. One of my contacts, he's with the engineer outfit nearby, and they're heading off for summer camp next week. He's actually fairly high up and he doesn't know a damn thing. They haven't told them anything.

Adams: What happens if the President calls out the Guard to deal with riots?

Veteran: Actually, on a national level there's not much Clinton can do without declaring martial law. The Guard is under the command of the Governor, and the Governor can activate them on state-wide emergencies, and that's the way I see it coming down. Clinton doesn't have anything to do with that.

Adams: Okay, right. What about Governors deploying troops on a state-by-state basis, then?

Veteran: Thirty percent of those troops would walk.

Adams: Walk?

Veteran: They would say, fuck you, I quit. Lots of people my age would do that. Most of the people my age are all staff sergeants, warrant officers, and so on, they've been in a long time. They're ready to walk.

Adams: What if they were required to engage rioters with weapons?

Veteran: Again, I think the same percentage would refuse. The young guys might actually do it, though. Until they start getting some rounds coming back, anyway, and then the whole damn bunch will take off. All the young people have never experienced a combat situation, it's all been war games and camping trips.

Adams: What are your thoughts on the Guard being used to distributed supplies to people? Do you think that will work?

Veteran: I think it's very likely they'll be called on to do that. I think they'll try that first before they actually try to use force to suppress people, they're actually going to try to do something, try to solve it. They must have a food storage place somewhere, they would get their trucks and load them up, then go to the major cities and put out announcements like, 'Food line begins here.' I don't know how much they've got, but in a week or less, they'll probably run out.

Adams: What happens then?

Veteran: Then the people are going to look elsewhere for food and water, that's where I think the marauding gangs might come into play. They're going to be scouring the neighborhood for supplies.

Adams: What about in small town USA? Could the same thing happen?

Veteran: Depending on how we define small towns, a small town to me is 1000 people. I think they might pull together and share resources, they tend to in a town that size. You tend to know a lot of people, and the residents have been there a long time.

Adams: But in the big cities...

Veteran: In the big cities, I'd say the vast majority of the people don't know anybody other than their next door neighbor. Take somebody three houses down, maybe they never met them. That's city life, the neighborhood is a thing of the past.

Adams: You also have experience in law enforcement.

Veteran: Yes, I was a Deputy Sheriff in Michigan. Then I was elected Chief of Police.

Adams: You must have a pretty good idea of how law enforcement is going to react to this, don't you think?

Veteran: I think law enforcement isn't going to do a damn thing. Other than their normal jobs, anyway. Just keeping the peace. As far as distributing food, I don't think they're going to be involved, the Guard will do that.

Adams: Do you think law enforcement is spread pretty thin?

Veteran: Way thin.

Adams: How thin?

Veteran: I don't know the numbers, but they've got so many cops per thousand population. I don't know what the numbers are, but it's not near enough. It's just barely enough in normal times.

Adams: What happens if 911 goes down in a particular city? What will the cops do?

Veteran: I look for the cops, if their local communications are working, they'll go to the streets. They'll be able to communicate with each other. If that doesn't work, I look for them either to sit in the station or go home. They're not going to go out there on their own. That's a suicide trip. They have no idea what they're going to run into to.

Adams: We're reading reports that several medium-sized cities are accepting donations of fully-automatic assault rifles from the Dept. of Justice. For example, one city in Missouri recently accepted a batch of M-16's. Does that strike you as unusual?

Veteran: Well, yes and no. A major city where I live just purchased a whole bunch of AR-15's. And they had the opportunity to get from the government for free, and they refused and chose to buy brand new ones on their own. Now these are semi-automatic only, but one county here just received a bunch of M-16's from the military, those were fully automatic. Personally, I don't like the idea of .223 rounds in an urban environment, somebody's gonna get hurt.

Adams: That's too much penetration power for urban use, right?

Veteran: Right. They're gonna get a lot of stray bullets, a lot of penetration, and there are a lot of civilians running around.

Adams: What are you and your Veteran friends are doing to prepare?

Veteran: Most of the veterans I know are 40 and older, and they all have food supplies, water supplies and contingency plans. Just in case they need them.

Adams: How extensive?

Veteran: Three months of food is the average.

Adams: Firearms?

Veteran: Everybody is well armed.

Adams: How well?

Veteran: In well armed, I mean at least one handgun, at least two rifles, including a battle rifle, shotgun, and as much ammo as they can afford. Minimum 1000 rounds per gun.

Adams: That makes a lot of people nervous, the whole gun thing. Do you think people have any reason to be nervous about this?

Veteran: Not at all. We're all upstanding citizens. We go to work everyday, take the kids on vacation, we've never been in trouble, everybody has a carry permit, a lot have fully automatic weapons with fully-approved government and ATF background checks. These people are pillars of the community. Many have high security clearance and military experience. These are solid people, probably a lot more solid than some of the younger cops toting fully automatic weapons around. The existing cops and military can't handle everything. They're going to need armed citizens to help defend neighborhoods.

Adams: In what way do you and your friends envision you might have to use these guns?

Veteran: Defending the community or protecting your personal property and your neighbors.

Adams: Do you think civilians might actually have to join with local police or National Guard forces?

Veteran: Yes, I do. They will need our help to maintain the peace. If young gangbangers say, hey let's go hit this neighborhood, and they roll in there, suppose they find this old lady. They steal her food and beat her up. If we happen to see that, there's going to be twelve dead punks laying there.

Adams: That sounds strong.

Veterans. That's because the police and the Guard can't be everywhere, they're going to be spread extremely thin. I think the average citizen is going to have to be on his own to protect himself and his family. We all have extra supplies for that reason, ready to share with people, because not everybody has what they need. We're actually willing to share. We've all got a little extra food. The federal government may view us as part of the problem but, you know, we are an important part of the solution. We have the extra firepower and extra food. We're the ones who are going to be saving the neighborhoods of anything bad goes down. The people I know have no intention of using firearms in any manner other than defense.

Adams: You've heard all these federal agencies and companies claiming they're Y2K-compliant. What's your take on that?

Veteran: I think they're jerking our chain, they're trying to avoid any panic. It would be real hard to get everybody to prepare without a panic, so they're kinda between a rock and a hard spot. If the news media came on and says Y2K might be more serious, we suggest everybody go out and get a 2-week supply of food, water, you might need it, I think they would cause a run.

Adams: So you actually agree that telling people now might cause a panic?

Veteran: Everybody would immediately go out and try to buy this stuff. The demand would far exceed supply. There's not that much on the shelves. Then if they go in there and they can't find it, they might try and take it. Then you've got a riot on your hands.

Adams: When you did you start preparing?

Veteran: Ten years ago, and it wasn't for Y2K. I've always been prepared. Mainly for natural disasters. Nobody even thought about Y2K back then.

Adams: What do you think about the second wave of preparedness that has struck the American population recently?

Veteran: Apparently some people are still doing some amount of thinking on it. They're thinking, hey, it won't hurt. If I need it, I got it. I don't think they're going to put all their money in it. I think they're going to buy things with disposable income.

Adams: Thank you for your time and your thoughts on this subject.

http://www.y2knewswire.com/19990531.htm

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), May 30, 1999

Answers

Grassroots community prep is the only way now, and the time has run out. Things will be more "interesting" than they needed to be.

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), May 30, 1999.