FEMA Taking Over the Nation’s Airwaves for First National Test

FEMA Taking Over the Nation’s Airwaves for First National Test

By VC | November 9th, 2011

At 2PM (November 9th), FEMA will be conducting its first Emergency Alert System (EAS) test today. The test will interrupt the programming of all TV stations (cable and satellite) and radio stations (regular and satellite) to broadcast a test signal.

The test will be the first instance ever that all American media channels will be broadcasting content from a single source. This is quite an event in the history of media as a single organization can single-highhandedly take over the nation’s entire mass media channels. Mashable also reported that: “In addition to government efforts, private service provider T-Mobile issued a test warning last Saturday to thousands of their subscribers, which rang a siren noise and read “Presidential Alert” with the word “Test” below. The alert was part of FEMA’s Personalized Local Alert Network, which allows ‘customers who own an enabled mobile device to receive geographically targeted, text-like messages alerting them of imminent threats to safety in their area.’”

Here’s the official FEMA statement to the population:

Nationwide Test of the Emergency Alert System

As part of our ongoing efforts to keep our country and communities safe during emergencies, we’re working in partnership with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to conduct the first nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS). The EAS test plays a key role in ensuring the nation is prepared for any type of hazard, and that the U.S. public can receive critical and vital information should it ever be needed.

Over the past year, our agencies have been working with the broadcast community, cable operators and programmers, and other communications service providers that participate in the Emergency Alert System; our state, local, tribal, and territorial partners; and other critical stakeholders to help inform all members of the public regarding the nationwide Emergency Alert System test.

Here are specific items we want everyone to know about the test:

• It will be conducted Wednesday, November 9 at 2:00 PM EST.
• It will be transmitted via television and radio stations within the U.S., including Alaska, Hawaii, the territories of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa.
• Similar to local emergency alert system tests, an audio message will interrupt television and radio programming indicating: “This is a test.”
• When the test is over, regular programming will resume.

As we get close to the test, the FCC and all of our many partners are working together to spread the word to as many members of the public as possible — so people know what to expect when the test takes place, and no one is caught off guard. We’re asking everyone to join us by spreading the word to your neighbors, co-workers, friends and family — share this web page, post a message on your social media site, and feel free to embed our videos on your website or blog.

- FEMA Website

FEMA taking over the airwaves might be practical in case of a hurricane or whatnot. But there are many other potential applications of this system for FEMA…Do a little internet search on “Rex 84″.

SOURCE:

Rex 84, short for Readiness Exercise 1984, was a secretive "scenario and drill" developed by the United States federal government to suspend the United States Constitution, declare martial law, place military commanders in charge of state and local governments, and detain large numbers of American citizens who are deemed to be "national security threats", in the event that the President declares a "State of Domestic National Emergency". The plan states that events that might cause such a declaration would be widespread U.S. opposition to a U.S. military invasion abroad, such as if the United States were to directly invade Central America.[1][2][3][4][5][6] To combat what the government perceived as "subversive activities", the plan also authorized the military to direct ordered movements of civilian populations at state and regional levels.[7]

Rex 84 was written by Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, who was both National Security Council White House Aide, and NSC liaison to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and John Brinkerhoff, the deputy director of "national preparedness" programs for FEMA. They patterned the plan on an 1970 report written by FEMA chief Louis Giuffrida, at the Army War College, which proposed the detention of up to 21 million "American Negroes", if there were a black militant uprising in the United States.[1][8] Existence of a master military contingency plan (of which REX-84 was a part), "Garden Plot" and a similar earlier exercise, "Lantern Spike" were originally revealed by journalist Ron Ridenhour, who summarized his findings in an article in CounterSpy.[9]

Transcripts from the Iran-Contra Hearings in 1987 record the following dialogue between Congressman Jack Brooks, Oliver North's attorney Brendan Sullivan and Senator Daniel Inouye, the Democratic Chair of the joint Senate-House Committee:[10]

[Congressman Jack] Brooks: Colonel North, in your work at the N.S.C. were you not assigned, at one time, to work on plans for the continuity of government in the event of a major disaster?

Brendan Sullivan [North's counsel, agitatedly]: Mr. Chairman?

[Senator Daniel] Inouye: I believe that question touches upon a highly sensitive and classified area so may I request that you not touch upon that?

Brooks: I was particularly concerned, Mr. Chairman, because I read in Miami papers, and several others, that there had been a plan developed, by that same agency, a contingency plan in the event of emergency, that would suspend the American constitution. And I was deeply concerned about it and wondered if that was an area in which he had worked. I believe that it was and I wanted to get his confirmation.

Inouye: May I most respectfully request that that matter not be touched upon at this stage. If we wish to get into this, I'm certain arrangements can be made for an executive session.

Exercises similar to Rex 84 happen regularly.[11] For example, from 1967 to 1971 the FBI kept a list of over 100,000 persons to be rounded up as subversive, dubbed the "ADEX" list.[12]

The basic facts about Rex 84 and other contingency planning readiness exercises—and the potential threat they pose to civil liberties if fully implemented in a real operation—are taken seriously by scholars and civil libertarians.[13][broken citation]