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General Discussion/February 18, 2026

VETERANS CORNER: Military vets sound off on the REA — all perspectives welcome

Posted by SheepDog_Vet (@sheepdog_vet)9,870 views4 replies
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SheepDog_Vet@sheepdog_vet
OP

Starting a thread specifically for veterans to discuss the REA. All branches, all eras, all political views. The only rule: respect each other's service.

I'm former Special Forces. I've trained indigenous resistance movements. I see the REA's structure and I see professional-grade unconventional warfare organization. That makes me simultaneously impressed and cautious. Impressed because it's effective. Cautious because the same tools that liberate can be used to oppress — and cell structures are specifically designed to prevent external oversight.

Where do you all land?

Replies (4)

NavyDoc_Ret@navydoc_ret
Feb 18
20 years, Navy Hospital Corpsman, three deployments. I'll be blunt: I swore an oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. When I see a deputy with 14 excessive force complaints face zero consequences, that deputy is a domestic enemy of the Constitution. I'm not saying the REA is right. I'm saying I understand why they exist and I'm not going to pretend I don't.
ArmyWife_NC@armywife_nc
Feb 18
My husband did three tours in Afghanistan. He came home with PTSD and a moral injury that he still can't talk about. Because he saw people in uniform do terrible things and face no consequences. When he read about the REA, he cried. First time in two years. He said: 'Someone finally gets it.' I don't know what the REA is. But it reached something in him that the VA and the chain of command never could.
COL_Ret_USMC@colonel_retired
Feb 18
Retired O-6, 30 years USMC. I'm going to say something that will be unpopular with my peers: the REA makes me uncomfortable because it reminds me of us at our best. The discipline, the mission focus, the willingness to operate in the gray. That's exactly what I trained young Marines to do — except we did it overseas. The REA does it here. And the same people who celebrated it over there are horrified by it here. That hypocrisy is worth examining.
MPVet_2020@mpvet_2020
Feb 18
Former Military Police. I know some guys who went into civilian law enforcement after the service. Some are great cops. Some... aren't. And the ones who aren't know that the system protects them. I've personally seen a former battle buddy brag about roughing up a suspect because 'IA doesn't do anything.' So when the REA shows up to fill that gap, can I honestly be surprised? No. Angry? Maybe. But surprised? Absolutely not.

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