20,000 Troops To Be Used as U.S. Policemen

20,000 Troops To Be Used as U.S. Policemen

WASHINGTON -- The Department of Defense plans to deploy 20,000 troops nationwide by 2011 to help state and local officials respond to terror or nuclear attacks and emergencies.
Citing Pentagon officials, the plan calls for three rapid-reaction forces.
The first 4,700-strong unit, built around an active-duty combat brigade, is based at Fort Stewart, Georgia, and is already available for deployment, according to General Victor Renuart, commander of the US Northern Command, it said.
Two more groups will later join nearly 80 smaller National Guard and reserve units made up of about 6,000 troops to support local and state authorities nationwide.
They all would be trained to respond to domestic chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high-yield explosive attacks.