Jade Helm 15: Texas Governor Greg Abbott Wants State Guard To Monitor Military Exercises

Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered the state guard to monitor Operation Jade Helm 15. The realistic military training or RMT slated to begin in seven southwestern states in July has become highly controversial and has sparked multiple conspiracy theories, along with martial law concerns.

Jade Helm 15 monitoring was requested by Governor Greg Abbott after a packed public meeting in rural Batrop County earlier this week. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, U.S. Military officials were scheduled to brief the Bastrop County Commissioners about the Operation Jade Helm 15 exercises. More than 200 people crammed into the meeting hall to hear what the special operations officials had to say and to get answers to their questions.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Operation Jade Helm will take place in cities and small towns in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah and Colorado. For the purpose of training, residents in the entire states of Utah and Texas will be deemed “hostiles.” Some of the Army Special Forces teams will reportedly drop to the ground from airplanes while carrying traditional military weapons which will be loaded with blanks, for the realistic military training exercise.

Bastrop County Judge Paul Pape reportedly stated during the meeting with Operation Jade Helm 15 commanders that “conspiracy theorists” and “fear mongers” had been in a “frenzy” since broad details about the realistic military training were announced.

“It’s a sad when people’s greatest fear is their own government,” Judge Pape said during the Jade Helm meeting. “Think about the ramification of that. If Americans go to sleep at night worrying whether their own government is going to sell them out before morning, it’d be hard to sleep.”

The Texas judge also noted that the meeting about Operation Jade Helm 15 in Bastrop County included attendees that had traveled from as far away as Houston and Dallas. Judge Paper told the media that his county could garner as much as $150,000 in economic activity from the military exercises. The county is home to the largest base for the Texas National Guard, Camp Swift.

“There’s been a lot of dust thrown in the air, a lot of haze,” Pape added. “Those who wanted to raise concerns on the one hand succeeded. They’ve raised a lot of attention about this. But the fact is the message is clear: Jade Helm is a well-designed and a well-constructed training operation.”

U.S. Army Lt. Col. Mark Lastoria spoke to the crowd assembled in Bastrop County for two hours about the RMT. Lastoria said that Jade Helm will involve 1,200 soldiers and all four branches of the military, according to the Austin American-Statesman. The military officer also stated that individuals with a personal agenda about the exercise had been spreading misinformation.

To date, Texas Governor Greg Abbott is the only state leader to address the Operation Jade Helm 15 training going on inside their borders.

“It is important that Texans know their safety, constitutional rights, private property rights and civil liberties will not be infringed,” Governor Abbott wrote in a statement about the realistic military training. “By monitoring the Operation on a continual basis, the State Guard will facilitate communications between my office and the commanders of the Operation to ensure that adequate measures are in place to protect Texans.”

What do you think about Operation Jade Helm 15?

[Image via: Getty Images]