Recently the House and Senate passed a bill that would create a national “Ready Reserve” whose stated purpose is “to fulfill the need to have additional Commissioned Corps personnel available on short notice (similar to the uniformed service’s reserve program) to assist regular Commissioned Corps personnel…” These Ready Reserve Corps will “participate in routine training to meet the general and specific needs of the Commissioned Corps” and “be available and ready for involuntary calls to active duty during national emergencies” (emphasis mine). It was signed into law by President Obama just the other day to much hype and media coverage.
What, you may ask? I’ve heard of no such thing! Yes you have, the bill was the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act”. Yep, the health care reform bill.
Stuck waaaaay down on page 1312 of the 2409 page Senate attachments, called HR3590, is the section in question. This section has been left so obviously vague, in most of its wording, that it can be interpreted to mean whatever it needs to mean at any given time. One thing that cannot be disputed is the fact that a Health Care Reform bill saw need to include a section that would create an army ready reserve that are “at all times subject to call to active duty by the Surgeon General”. It provides the funding for this army to train with the regular army and will “assist regular Commissioned Corps personnel to meet both “routine public health and emergency response missions… both foreign and domestic“.
Could this be the “civilian security force” that Obama campaigned for during his run for the presidency?
