For the past few weeks there's been something new happening at various locations along the light rail and other spaces of Charlotte's inner ring. The last time The Department of Homeland Security and a contract openly patrolled familiar streets and pathways downtown was during the 2012 DNC. Above you will see the four person team that walked up into my vision early yesterday afternoon whilst I was taking the time to continue reading an amazing book about the life and death of JFK over a mug of batch brew from Not Just Coffee outside the 7th Street Public Market.
Seems as if this similar scene has happened in front of my eyes four times over the last three weeks. Noticing the cargo khakis and desert combat boot combo is just the beginning. These pro-force shooters are carrying what appeared to be no fewer than two pistols. High Caliber. On their belts were multiple magazines in the mag pouches. The operator on the far right out of view (except for his legs) had an extra large red beard to match the extra large combat mag pouch kit on his front belt harness. It looked weighty. And authentic. Like it could tell a story to someone about what it's like to be in combat in a far away mountainous place from the perspective of an extra large magazine pouch. Fighting the urge to touch it as I scanned it from a few feet away, my mind calculated that there were at least twenty pistol mags in it. Calculations.
Each were wearing a bulletproof vest over their dark shirts and jackets. It only seems proper that if you are going out that locked and loaded you'd have to wear protection. And of course the dark baseball caps finish off the military light ensemble with a certain flair of fitting in with the backdrop of our fair city in the form of acceptance. Subtle.
They stood on post for ten minutes or so before the CMPD Lt. liaison verbally suggested that it was time to continue and motioned with his hand for the men and woman to move out towards the south going down the light rail path on the western side of the tracks. The guy with the big beard and combat veteran magazine pouch leaned in and said something to the group that from my perspective couldn't be made out. But it was funny, the girl laughed audibly and the group stepped off all smiles. It was a light moment that immediately shifted back to the chiseled readiness of a fire team in an urban environment.
DHS's version of MOUT (Military Operations on Urban Terrain) ops is apparently more present for the last three weeks or so. The question is, is it a training or is it active patrols with operations orders? That theoretically suggests that someone at the White House knows about these walkabouts in Charlotte. Preparations. Asking around today to some of my longtime and newer CMPD friends yielded little in the way of information as to the questions. They seemed to know less than I do regarding these patrols. Of the four officers, not one had even seen DHS operations in Charlotte since the DNC.
Some of the officers kicked about theories openly as to what it could be and why it's happening now. One said that it could be federal ramping up of familiarity with Charlotte as we fast approach an election year with a primary coming sooner than later. That means all the candidates will be coming through Charlotte soon. Joy. More heavy combat presence in the name of it all. Maybe that suggestion makes sense, but I fell like something else is happening. Something deeper.
In his short time as President of The United States of America, John F. Kennedy had been working towards a real global peace. There is an overwhelming amount of evidence supporting this philosophy and policy change in him. He gave everything he had to avoid a willed for nuclear (cold) war, he gave everything he had to end the Vietnam War before it officially started and he gave everything he had trying to dismantle the departmental and civilian powers calling for the constant policy of war. It was the trifecta of real awareness. In the year of his death Kennedy confided with his inner circle and wrote things down. One of the most profound things JFK came to understand in the summer before he died is that world peace could never happen from the top down. He knew that self examination is the foundation for peace and until that happens it can never be obtained. The depth of that thought is unimaginable to some.
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