Jade Helm 15 conspiracy theories

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. 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.