Welsh,
Practically it depends on whether the USAF personnel still consider themselves bound by the rule of law.
And they do. They are responding to what they perceive as a national emergency involving the breakdown of effective law and order. And while a few state troopers at a truck stop might represent the law of Nebraska, its unlikely that the USAF will take orders from them.
According to them, this is a national emergency, and national law and authority- the President in this case- will govern.
They are not staging a coup- they are not trying to overthrow the Constitution of the US- which is the law of the land.
Granted states have sovereinty, but even the State's emergency powers- its use of the National Guard, will fall under federal control.
At present the USAF is not trying to usurp Erica or Bo's authority, however. Their mission is to secure a facility that the USAF, acting on behalf of US national security in a time of crisis, and found to be critical.
These are USAF SF- they take their orders from the President and then their base commander. THey see themselves as defending the US from potential catastrophic attack at a time when law and order in the US has degraded.
Erica, for instance, cannot claim to be in direct link with the governor of Nebraska (who is currently being consumed). But the USAF can claim to be linked, at least to the outside world, through Foo's comm system. Foo, incidently, has a connection to the federal government.
There is another basis of federal authority here- but I am going to hold that back.
If they do, then according to what you posted their authority only extends to assisting civil authorities in policing and maintaining civil order. While civil authority may have collapsed everywhere else, it has not collapsed at this location due to the presence of the state government via it's lawful agents: the Nebraska State Patrol. Therefore, the limit of the USAF's authority is to assist said NSP, not usurp their authority. Nowhere does Martial Law allow the armed forces to assume complete authority over the civil authorities. That's called a "coup", and I'm pretty sure that's not legally allowed, even under a state of emergency.
Assist- but what if the NSP command and control has collapsed. And, as noted, the USAF has not exerted complete authority over the NSP. But it is acting in compliance with orders from a local general, who is acting in response to a national emergency as decreed by the President. The question is one of authority, and on this matter, I think its safe to say that the Federal law preempts state.
Now, the USAF personnel may not care about legal niceties. After all, they have bigger guns. But this means they are obeying illegal orders at best, or deserters at worse.
Not according to them. Rather, they are acting under color of law by an acting general who is trying to secure a region that has been devestated by an epidemic or insurrection- definitely a national emergency involving a break down of law and order.
At any rate, the point is not to exert rightful legal authority. The point is to restore a litttle useful perspective to the situation in that they are there to help the civvies, and that any actions on their part must be in concert with the civil authorities (viz. the NSP), and not dictated at gunpoint. (If this is contrary to their orders, then they have been given illegal orders.)
Actually, they are helping the civies. THey are trying to safe guard national security, assert law and order and are even trying to combat an epidemic and insurrection.
THat the NSP and the military follow two different sovereign governments- is a consequence of the division of sovereignty between the federal government and the state.
Under these conditions, the federal government has broad authority to act and will claim federal preemption to state law.
This is a constitutional principle- when federal law conflicts with state- federal law preempts. Likewise, you will find that usually the federal will preempt state officials in the carrying out of official duties. This is one of the reasons why the FBI often will take over a case claiming jurisdiction. Here, the USAF will claim jurisdiction. It won't command Erica or Bo or Barring. But it can seize the helicopter for national security purposes based on its jurisdictional authority in this matter.
On another note, I did get around to reading Delta Green. While in CoC combat turns are left vague, in DG it's specified at 3 seconds. Must have slipped my mind. That's something about CoC: rules are slightly changed between editions, new ones are introduced in supplemental materials, and so on.
I agree. It gets confusing. This is why keepers often designate what rules they are using. Bah! who has time for rules in this kind of game! (Or so says the USAF!)
