Remember Jade Helm 15, the controversial military exercise? It’s over

The military exercise Jade Helm 15 generated enough conspiracy theories this year that it garnered mockery on late-night television, commentary from presidential candidates and reaction from the Texas governor. The basic thrust of the concerns: The military was laying the groundwork for martial law — if not now, then sometime in the future.

 

 

The exercise will end quietly Tuesday, however. Carried out in parts of Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida, it will conclude after two months of operations, said Suzanne Nagl, a spokeswoman for Army Special Operations Command, which oversaw it.

 

 

“At this time, we do not have any lessons learned to share since we have not yet conducted an after-action review of the exercise, but we do believe the exercise overall was a success,” Nagl said in an email.

 

 

As initially detailed in planning documents, the exercise was to include elite service members from four military branches. It eventually was reduced to include 200 Special Operations forces and an additional 300 support personnel for most of the exercise, with about 700 hundred members of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division traveling to Texas to train as part of Jade Helm for about five days in August.

 

 

The story began garnering attention in March, after planning slides for the exercise, likely prepared for government officials in Texas, began circulating online. They labeled Texas, Utah and a section of southern California as hostile territory, and New Mexico as uncertain territory leaning hostile.

Read More: Remember Jade Helm 15, the controversial military exercise? It’s over – U.S. – Stripes