The Role of Federal Military Forces in Domestoc Disorders, 1945-1992
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Historical Series Army THE ROLE OF FEDERAL MILITARY FORCES IN The Role of Federal Military of Federal The Role in Domestic Forces DDOOMMEststIC DDIISSOORRDErsrs, 1945–1992 Disorders, 1945–1992 Disorders, Paul J. Scheips Paul J. Scheips Paul Center of Military History United States Army PIN : 081017–000 ARMY HISTORICAL SERIES THE ROLE OF FEDERAL MILITARY FORCES IN DOMESTIC DISORDERS 1945–1992 by Paul J. Scheips CENTER OF Military History UNITED States ARMY WASHINGtoN, D.C., 2012 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Scheips, Paul J. The role of federal military forces in domestic disorders, 1945–1992 / by Paul J. Scheips. p. cm. — (Army historical series) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. United States. Army—Civil functions—History—20th century. 2. Riots—United States—History—20th century. 3. Insurgency—United States—History—20th century. 4. Internal security—United States—History—20th century. I. Title. II. Series. UA25.S34 2005 355.3’4—dc22 2004062842 First Printed 2005—CMH Pub 30–20–1 Army Historical Series Jeffrey J. Clarke, General Editor Advisory Committee (As of October 2004) Jon T. Sumida Brian M. Linn University of Maryland Texas A&M University Eric M. Bergerud Howard P. Lowell Lincoln University National Archives and Records Administration Mark Bowden Philadelphia Inquirer Col. Craig Madden U.S. Army War College Lt. Gen. Franklin L. Hagenbeck Deputy Chief of Staff John H. Morrow, Jr. for Personnel University of Georgia Lt. Gen. Anthony R. Jones Reina J. Pennington U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Norwich University Command Ronald H. Spector Brig. Gen. Daniel J. Kaufman George Washington University U.S. Military Academy Brig. Gen. Volney Warner Adrian R. Lewis U.S. Army Command and General University of North Texas Staff College U.S. Army Center of Military History Brig. Gen. (Ret.) John S. Brown, Chief of Military History Chief Historian Jeffrey J. Clarke Chief, Histories Division Richard W. Stewart Editor in Chief John W. Elsberg iii Foreword Our Army often undertakes assigned missions it would not have chosen for itself. Perhaps the most complex, demanding, and controversial of such missions features its intervention in domestic civil disturbances—upholding lawful government when the threat to law and government comes from among our own American citizens. As unap- pealing as the image of American soldiers confronting American citizens may be, the military responsibility to assist in securing domestic tranquillity has deep constitutional roots. For over two hundred years our soldiers have often proved the instrument of last resort when chaos seemed imminent. This volume, covering 1945 to 1992, is the third of three volumes on the role of fed- eral military forces in domestic disorders. Summarizing institutional and other changes that took place in the Army and in American society during this period, it carries the reader through the nation’s use of federal troops during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s and the domestic upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s associated with the Vietnam War. The development and refinement of the Army’s domestic support role, as well as the disciplined manner in which the Army conducted these complex and often unpopular tasks, are major themes of this volume. In addition, the study demonstrates the Army’s progress in coordinating its operational and contingency planning with the activi- ties of other federal agencies and the National Guard. Although this is a story of the U.S. Army’s experience at a specific time in American history, the issues it addresses and the lessons to be learned transcend the period covered. If past is prologue, units from both the Army’s active and reserve components will be called upon to deal with domestic civil disturbances at some future date. The relevant les- sons gleaned from our Army’s past include the value of highly disciplined soldiers, care- ful operational and logistical planning, flexibility, and the assumption of initiative at all levels of command. These hallmarks of a trained and ready force are invaluable not only during domestic civil support, but also during the full range of military opera tions the United States and its Army are likely to face in the twenty-first century. We commend this volume to you as useful lessons from the past that can be drawn upon to serve the future. Washington, D.C. JOHN S. BROWN 31 March 2005 Brigadier General, USA (Ret.) Chief of Military History v The Author Paul J. Scheips received his M.A. from the University of Chicago in 1949 and his Ph.D. from American University in 1966. Early in his career he taught at the University of Michigan and Denison University. From 1952 to 1962 he worked as a historian for the Signal Corps Historical Division, where he authored a number of studies and participated in the celebration of the Signal Corps’ centennial in 1960. In 1962 Scheips joined the staff of the Office of the Chief of Military History (now the U.S. Army Center of Military History). As a member of the Histories Division, he produced a wide array of studies and contributed to many of the Center’s publications, including American Military History and Department of the Army Annual Historical Summary, 1981. He is also the author of Will Croft Barnes, a Westerner of Parts; Hold the Fort! The Story of a Song from the Sawdust Trail to the Picket Line; and the two-volume anthology Military Signal Communications, in addition to numerous articles in profes- sional journals. Scheips retired in 1986 from federal service as the chief of the Center’s Staff Support Branch. He remained actively engaged in scholarly pursuits during his retirement, finish- ing The Role of Federal Military Forces in Domestic Disorders, 1945–1992. He passed away in September 2002. vi Preface This is the third of three volumes by the Center of Military History on the role of fed- eral military forces in domestic disturbances. The first, by Robert W. Coakley, covers the subject from the founding of the United States to the enactment of the Posse Comitatus Act in 1878. The second, by Clayton D. Laurie and Ronald H. Cole, continues the story down to the end of World War II. A special study, Industrialists in Olive Drab, takes up the wartime experience. This third volume covers the institutional and other changes that took place during the early postwar years and carries the reader through the civil rights revolution, the disturbances that accompanied the Vietnam War, and the controversies surrounding the Army’s role at Wounded Knee in 1973. It ends with a brief account of the Army’s intervention in the race riot in Los Angeles in 1992, which occurred after this volume was essentially completed, and with an extensive bibliography containing a note on various sources used. While this study mainly concerns Army operations in civil disturbances, it covers many related topics, including legal matters, presidential actions, the use of federal marshals, organizational arrangements, contingency planning, logistics, the role of military intelli- gence, weapons, and rules of engagement. Since the Army is largely responsible for train- ing, equipping, and financing the Army National Guard and, of course, uses the Guard when federalized, the study also deals with the performance of Guard forces in civil disturbances, sometimes even when those units were serving under the aegis of their state governments rather than in a federal role. Where necessary to provide context for the reader, this study also addresses the development of the civil rights movement in the United States, the growth of antiwar sentiment during the 1960s and 1970s, and other notable events of the day. Although the Army had the principal role in the interventions of the period, the other services, particularly the Air Force, assisted by providing personnel, transportation, facilities, and equipment. While covering those efforts, this work generally relies on Army records in treating them and in dealing with interservice relationships. Regarding terminology, this and the other volumes use the description Domestic Disorders in their titles, a term favored historically and by the architect and general edi- tor of the series, Robert W. Coakley. However, to avoid repetition (and in some cases to be more specific), this study employs a number of terms, some of them interchangeably. These include civil disturbance, the most common usage of the era, as well as riot, racial distur- bance, racial trouble, and their plurals, all of which commonly appear in the records and documents of the time. Also during this period the term black replaced Negro in discussions of race and thus is commonly used in the text, while the term African American is not used because it had not gained currency during the time with which much of the volume deals. vii This work is based on a much larger study that the author completed following his retirement from the U.S. Army Center of Military History. Albert E. Cowdrey, a senior historian in the Center, made initial cuts in the original manuscript. William M. Hammond and Clayton D. Laurie, also senior historians in the Center, aided by Frank Shirer of the Center, revised Cowdrey’s work. The author, however, made the final revisions but thanks those historians for their contributions. The lengthy original manuscript remains on file among the records of the Center of Military History for use by those who might desire a more detailed treatment of certain subject areas. As it stands, the volume owes much not only to the historians mentioned, but also to several readers who read and commented on the manuscript as it developed. Foremost among them was Robert W. Coakley, deputy chief historian, who prepared a long and use- ful critique of the original draft of this volume.