Considering the Trumpian Insurrection of January 6, 2021, I cannot help but wonder why the Federal government has gone dark and remains largely silent about this event. When I say Federal government, I really mean those responsible in our military for the defense of Washington D.C. All the criticism directed at the lowest level; the Capitol Police is misplaced. They are at the bottom of the chain of command for defense of the Capitol, and I think people are missing the bigger story here.
From 2012 to 2015, I served at US Northern Command at Peterson Air Force Base, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I served in many capacities including as an intelligence watch officer monitoring both foreign and domestic threats to our Nation. We focused on a range of military and terrorist threats to the United States, so I am well versed in the role US Northern Command and the Department of Homeland Security play during a crisis or incident which threatens our Nation’s leadership. My intention is not to attack US Northern Command or our national security apparatus, since I have the highest regard for the men and women of these organizations. Instead, as I learned in the Army, the value of constructive criticism is understanding that organizations need such criticism to improve and fix themselves.
US Northern Command was established in 2002 after the attacks of September 11th, 2001 specifically organized to protect our nation, especially Washington DC. It works hand in hand with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the entire Interagency national security infrastructure. US Northern Command is also the focal point of robust domestic intelligence. They both share and receive intelligence information from local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. In this capacity they should have had an important role in monitoring the lead up to the events of the insurrection.
In fact, their robust intelligence capability was designed with the defense of District of Columbia in mind. Therefore, they maintain strong ties with the FBI, the National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC) and all organizations within the Department of Homeland Security for both foreign and domestic threats. Under the command of US Northern Command is the Joint Force Headquarters National Capital Region (JFHQ-NCR), based at Fort McNair, in Washington, D.C. They have military command responsibility for defending the District of Columbia. JFHQ-NCR has at its hands all the resources of the US Armed Forces necessary for planning, coordinating, and executing any mission to protect the District of Columbia, including the Capitol building.
So how did they handle this crisis? Nobody is asking the right questions because some members of Congress are directing their questions at the Secretary of Army, but this is the wrong person to ask since the Secretary of Army is outside the chain of command in a crisis, he instead focuses on training and equipping Army Forces under control of Joint Commands or combatant commands like US Northern Command. Also, of note the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff has no executive authority over a combatant commander like US Northern Command. I do not want to digress into the details of America’s Joint military doctrine, but people need to understand that the chain of command for responding to an insurrection in the District of Columbia should follow the chain of command of: JFHQ-NCR, then up the chain to US Northern Command then to the Secretary of Defense, and finally to the President. All the while the Department of Homeland Security and others in the Interagency bureaucracy are kept informed and contribute resources as needed to include local law enforcement. So, it is basically four main people in this chain of command. Let us stop focusing on the Capitol police and go to the top not the bottom.
To put this into perspective, in 2015 a man in a small gyrocopter flew through miles of National Capitol Region restricted airspace and landed at the U.S. Capitol. The District of Columbia is one of the most heavily defended cities in the world with some of the greatest surveillance technology available. As a result, the commander of US Northern Command had to testify before Congress for this gyrocopter breach of security at the Capitol. The gyrocopter incident pales in comparison to the security failure at of Capitol during the January 6th insurrection.
So, what was US Northern Command’s or the military’s role leading up to and during events? Did they fail? The only ones in the command structure who could prevent the JFHQ-NCR or USNORTHCOM from calling out the National Guard is the (acting) Secretary Defense or the President. I would like to know if the President ordered his man the (acting) Secretary of Defense not to respond. Since the commander of US Northern Command has a direct line to the President, did President Trump order him not to respond? People are criticizing the Capitol Police, but this goes higher, to the leadership at top and this involves the Commander of US Northern Command and the (acting) Secretary of Defense. Let us also be clear about something since the media is reporting the “Pentagon” did such and such. This generic use of the “Pentagon” is misleading because the Secretary of Defense is the one in charge of the Pentagon. Some rogue bureaucrats at the Pentagon cannot or at least SHOULD NOT be able to order the four-star general at US Northern Command to stand down and not defend Congress unless it is coming from higher up, specifically the (Acting) Secretary of Defense or the President. This is the issue at hand, and it is paramount for the sake of our democracy we get to the bottom of what happened.
This attempt at insurrection against Congress marks a watershed in American history. Slowly the full scope is beginning to dawn on the American public. Like September 11th, 2001, this event will reverberate throughout the National security establishment for decades to come. Just like September 11th, we need a full investigation into this failure to defend our Capitol. We also need to reevaluate domestic threats to our Nation. Our Nation is heading into uncharted territory and we as citizens need all the facts to make informed decision in our democracy.
References:
Joint Publication 1, Doctrine for the Armed Forces of the United States, 25 March 2013.
https://www.jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/Doctrine/pubs/jp1_ch1.pdf?ver=2019-02-11-174350-967
The Joint Staff Officer’s Guide, Joint Forces Staff College, National Defense University, 14 June 2013
Special Operations Forces Interagency Counterterrorism Reference Manual, Joint Special Operations University, September 2013.
John Foley is writer and political commentator. He is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel and career Intelligence Officer. He served 27 years in the U.S. military with both the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Army. He had multiple combat deployments to Iraq with the 5th Special Forces, 101st Airborne Division and 1st Cavalry Division. His last duty assignment was with NORAD-USNORTHCOM. He currently lives in Colorado Springs Colorado.
Things are very messy, and if anything, it sounds like the military is going to have start a purge (it already has to an extent, right) if it wants to stay out of politics. Which is so much irony, I'm surprised even I can process it all.