On day one of the military training exercise occurring at Camp Swift outside of Bastrop, members of the Counter Jade Helm group sat outside of and on the roads connected to the base to watch for any movement or military vehicles coming and going. Former Kerrville Sheriff Deputy Eric Johnston is organizing the group’s efforts in Texas.
“I did have personnel on both sides of Camp Swift looking for any vehicular movement, any troop movement, supplies and equipment and from about 7:15 this morning there has been no movement off of the base,” Johnston explained.
Johnston says they sort of expected that might be the case on Day One of the operation, but it hasn’t quelled any of his fears about the military training or its purpose.
“It hasn’t relieved any of our concerns but it also hasn’t brought any new concerns up, you know like, “Oh God are they going to hunker down for the next two weeks and wait for us to go away?” I don’t think that’s the case,” Johnston said.
Johnston says their members are volunteers with jobs and families. He says so far he has enough personnel that have committed to staying in Bastrop through the week. He says beyond that he will be banging on doors and asking more members of the group to help monitor the military.
