The Jade Helm 15 conspiracy theories were based on the Jade Helm 15 United States military training exercise which took place in multiple U.S. states between July 15 and September 15, 2015. The exercise, which involved 1,200 personnel from four of the five branches of the U.S. military, was designed to train soldiers in skills needed to operate in overseas combat environments, including maneuvering through civilian populations. The announcements of these training exercises raised concerns and generated conspiracy theories that the exercise was a hostile military takeover.
Exercise details
The joint exercise in realistic military training (RMT) known as Jade Helm 15 was sponsored by the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM or SOCOM) and involved the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) and Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) with other U.S. Military units in multiple states, including Texas, Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Utah. Its stated purpose was "to improve the Special Operations Forces' capability as part of the National Security Strategy". It was coordinated and led from Eglin Air Force Base, an Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) base in northwest Florida.
Approximately 1,200 troops were engaged over the course of the exercise. They were "mainly Army Green Berets, but also a small group of Navy SEALS and Air Force special operations troops as well as conventional Army infantry", although the initial request to state officials from USSOCOM listed elements of the United States Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC), Marine expeditionary units, the 82nd Airborne Division, and "interagency partners" as participants. Troops engaging in the exercise assumed the roles of either occupying or resistance forces. Most locations were in sparsely populated arid regions near small towns. Some participants wore civilian attire and drove civilian vehicles. Maps of the exercise included areas of the United States such as Colorado and California where no actual operations were planned. The locations in Texas include Bastrop, Smithville, Big Spring, Caddo Lake, Caldwell, Christoval, College Station, Dell City, Eldorado, Goliad, Junction, Leakey, Menard, Mountain Home, San Angelo, San Antonio, and Victoria.
USSOCOM claimed that "the size and scope of Jade Helm sets this one apart" from previous training exercises, such as Derna Bridge or Robin Sage. In Bastrop, 60 soldiers took part, including the presence of two Humvee vehicles and a "water buffalo" water tank. Private land offered by residents would be used for the exercise, though he noted that they would not be paid for the land or receive a tax break of any kind. Lastoria also claimed that $150,000 in revenue would be brought to the area because of food, fuel, and shopping.
Journalists were not allowed to embed in the operation, but the Texas State Guard and the civilian group Counter Jade Helm monitored the exercise.
Conspiracy theories
The conspiracy theories seem to emanate from the map shown here from the U.S. Army Special Operations Command which divides the region into four colors, with two "hostile" states, two "permissive" states, two states leaning one way or the other, and California divided. Jim Shea of the Hartford Courant wrote that the conspiracy theories included: a "psychological operation aimed at getting people used to seeing military forces on the streets" so that they do not realize when an invasion actually takes place; an international operation aimed to seize people's guns; recently closed Walmarts used by the military to "stockpile supplies for Chinese troops who will be arriving to disarm Americans"; and a military plan to "round up political dissidents" and "remove key political figures" who may be against the imposition of martial law. Other theories have described Jade Helm 15 as a "secret plot" to impose martial law, confiscate firearms, invade Texas, and institute "total population control."
The conspiracy theories also included concern about the name of the exercise, with the "jade" possibly referring to China, or possibly an acronym for artificial intelligence developed by the U.S. military. Conspiracy theorist and Texas radio host Alex Jones said that "helm" is an acronym for "Homeland Eradication of Local Militants".
There was some tie-in between the Jade Helm 15 exercise and a resurgence of the FEMA camps conspiracy theory with the exercise raising fear that it was a dry run for forcing citizens into internment camps. These fears were demonstrated to have been unfounded when the exercise was completed and no one was placed into a camp.