Normal Army Aid to augment the Secret Service for President Kennedy was refused in Dallas. Trained U.S. Army Intelligence Units were told their assistance was not needed in Dallas during the JFK visit. William McKinney, a former member of the crack 112th Military Intelligence Group at 4th Army Headquarters, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, has revealed that both Col. Maximillian Reich and his deputy, Lt. Col. Joel Cabaza, protested violently when they were told to "Stand Down" rather than in report with their units for duty in augmentation of the Secret Service in Dallas, McKinney said, "All the Secret Service had to do was nod and these units which had been trained at the Army's top Intelligence school at Camp Holabird, Maryland would have performed their normal function of Protection for the President in Dallas." The 315th, the Texas unit which would have been involved if its support had not been turned down, had records in its files, according to McKinney, on Lee Harvey Oswald. The 315th had a Dallas office and its records were up to date. McKinney added that, "Highly specialized classes were given at Camp Holabird on the subject of Protection. This included training designed to prepare this army unit to assist the Secret Service. If our support had not been refused, we would have been in Dallas." Once they were told that that their unit wasn't needed, they assumed some other unit would get the job. They never dreamed there would be no one along the streets and rooftops. It's not that the Secret Service didn't do the job... They weren't asked to do the job. Dealey Plaza was left vacant of normal protection. Very, very clever planning. Now think about this. Who has the power to make this kind of call? Not Lee Oswald, or Castro, or the Mafia. Another point is that these conversations are based on certin code words. These code words are of key importance. Because once an operation such as "protection for a presidential tour" is set in motion, only someone with this knowledge can make the call and use such code words that are needed to "stand down" an entire Army unit. Back to Commentary page