Retired Concord Marine Warns ‘Domestic Army’ Is Being Built

photo credit John Tully Concord Monitor

A retired New Hampshire Marine issued a dire warning about the creation of a “domestic Army” during a recent Concord, N.H., city council meeting.

The former Marine Corps officer, Pete Martino, stated during the New Hampshire city council meeting that he feels the government is pushing for civilian police departments to garner military grade equipment – a belief which he considers a threat to all Americans. Not long after the veteran shared his concerns during the public participation portion of the Concord meeting, his comments went viral on the Internet.

According to Martino, domestic police agencies across the United States are beginning to resemble US military troops. The concerns stated were in response to a request to purchase a military grade Ballistic Engineered Armed Response Counter Attack Truck by the local police chief. The vehicles are commonly referred to as BearCats in the military.

Martino said he spent a year in Fallujah, Iraq, training the Iraqi Army.

“When we rebuilt it, we did everything we could to make it as strong as possible. And I’ll tell you right now, Homeland Security would kick their butts in a week,” he said. “What’s happening here [in the US] is we’re building a domestic military because it’s unlawful and unconstitutional to use American troops on American soil. So what we’re doing is building a military.”

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The former Marine didn’t mention it, but in 2008, then-Sen. Obama made comments about a domestic force that frightened many.

“We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we’ve set,” Obama said then. “We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded.”

Martino said there are multiple examples of police in America copying tactics of the US military.

“I was a retired Colonel in the Marine Corps. I saw a sign hanging in the back that said we want ‘More Mayberry, Less Fallujah.’ I spent a year in Fallujah,” Martino said. “You know what, when I first got there, I didn’t have armored Humvees. I traveled over 10,000 miles over there.  Sometimes you had to deal with and go with what you had. … My best friend, who is a SWAT officer in Nashua [N.H.] came to Iraq with me to train the Iraqi police, sent me a picture of him in the media, on the streets of Watertown, [Mass.], wearing the exact same combat gear we had in Iraq, only was a different color.”

The retired Marine Corps Colonel went on to detail the task organization concept utilized in the US Military. The veteran said that after a command is given, units are attached to the order to accomplish the specific mission. He maintains that is exactly what is occurring now in American via the Department of Homeland Security. The retired Marine noted the use of standardized equipment, gear and vehicles among various law enforcement agencies to support his point.

“I saw a picture in the Boston Globe during the Boston Marathon bombing, where there was a state police officer…actually there were two officers, they both had identical helmets, flak jackets, weapons, everything I wore in Iraq, only it was all blue” Martino said. “The officer on one side had a big patch that said Massachusetts State Police. The other officer next to him … his patch said Boston Police. What we’re doing here, and let’s not kid about it, we’re building a domestic Army and we’re shrinking the military because the government is afraid of its own citizens. The last time more than 10 terrorists were in the same place at the same time was Sept. 11. And all these vehicles in the world wouldn’t have prevented it or helped anybody.”

He concluded, “I don’t know where we’re gonna use this many vehicles and this many troops. Concord is just one little cog in the wheel. We’re building an army over here and I can’t believe people aren’t seeing.

“Is everybody blind?” he said, to applause.

The Concord City Council vote on the purchase of the BearCat was postponed until the body’s September meeting.