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National Guard rolls out to 55 Massachusetts hospitals
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Comments
Can we also send them after
Can we also send them after rogue 311 posters?
Question for Discussion
Why is it that our disaster intervention is done by people trained in military maneuvers? Shouldn't we instead be training a substantial subset of these folks as a civilian disaster relief corps?
Of course some might retain their security/defense functions, but it seems like a waste to do the training as soldier training when what we increasingly need is a disaster intervention crew that isn't necessarily confined to the state of residence.
They do perform that function
Mass Guard do perform the function of disaster relief - I've seen them in action. I don't have any idea if their training or equipment supports that, though, or if they're just able-bodied people with equipment that can drive through a minor flood.
Yes, but ...
If that is most of what they do, why waste resources on the military part?
We still need some of that, but it might make more sense to have a separate organization that handles the disaster relief. Might attract more medical people, too.
Good question
I don't have an answer to that. I agree that it's worth rethinking their function. It does seem archaic.
The military part
The National Guard is the only authorized State Militia we have. Those other so called "State Militias" we don't really have wouldn't know a suture from a rappelling rope or a syringe from a mace dispenser. Trust me when "Meal Team Six" the "Gravy Seals" or any of the other so called militias show up at vaccination sites to put those poisoners of our nation seeking to pollute fellow patriots precious bodily fluids to justice you'll be very glad the National Guard has complete military training.
I will be, if...
I will be, absolutely -- if they're deployed in that capacity. It hasn't happened yet, either in MA or anywhere else that I'm aware of...and I'm not confident that Charlie Baker would respond nimbly to such a situation. But that's another discussion.
The Medical Reserve Corps can help out to some degree
MRC is a federally funded, locally organized program that organizes volunteers (of varying skill levels) to respond to public health incidents. They do stuff ranging from yearly flu clinics to staffing triage points in emergencies. Pretty interesting.
(I got my membership in very early 2020, totally unrelated to COVID, but then ended up having to bow out because of some annoying and preventable bureaucratic nonsense. That said, it's still a worthwhile program that people should look into.)
Well aware of them
They are limited by their volunteer nature. Give them guard levels of compensation and you would probably see their ranks swell.
They handle the medical and mental health aspects of a disaster, but there are other logistics/support functions that also don't require military or medical training.
Like DMAT?
Or an expansion of DMAT with the option for state level activation with state funded pay?
A partial solution
Bring back conscription.
Think about it. Have every able bodied person age 18 serve for a year or two. Some could do military training, while others could do more peaceful service such as medical work. It works in other countries.
As for a medical version of the National Guard, I couldn’t see it work if only because it would attract people already working in the field.
As a draftee
As a draftee who was sent to a stupid war, let me invite you to please die in a fire. You don't get to advocate that my children get conscripted into involuntary servitude until you volunteer yourself and your children to serve.
I think you missed the point
There is a difference between drafting people and conscription, and in nations with conscription, there is an option for alternative service.
And yes, I get to advocate for whatever the heck I want to. First amendment and whatnot. The reality is that if the US had the system that nations like Finland has, I would have done my service and moved on.
No
No, there isn't. It's still involuntary, no matter what kind of service is imposed. If Trump had it, he probably would have used it to build his border wall and populate his legions of Brownshirts.
Here's the difference
Your draft did not bring your entire age cohort into service. Again, every male in Finland is required to either do military training or alternative service when they turn 18.
Also, somehow Bill Rogers avoided military service while respecting his callup. You know what he did? He worked at a hospital, which brings us full circle as alternative service. If we had national conscription, the federal government would have people to deploy to help with wave 4 (or is it 5) of Covid.
That the US sent people do fight a war that did not directly affect it has nothing to do with how other nations handle conscription.