Jade Helm, the U.S. military training exercise in Texas and surrounding areas, is over. No government roundup of private firearms ensued. No rogue U.S. government was set up. No martial law was declared.

The operation’s commanders said their aims were satisfied. The drill, so the military said in the beginning, was to train troops to operate in “hostile” territory. Since U.S. forces often operate in hostile territory, designating a section of the training terrain as “hostile” is not unusual. It’s a training term.

Last spring, U.S. Army soldiers with the 2nd Cavalry Regiment carried out a 1,100-mile convoy through six countries en route to their home station in Vilseck, Germany, after finishing training with allies in Poland and the Baltics.

To reassure countries on Russia’s western periphery, the U.S. and other NATO allies have been training continuously in the Baltics and Poland since Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine last year.

The forces were cheered by local residents, reminiscent of liberation scenes at the end of World War II.

Interesting that units of the American army can ride through Eastern Europe and be welcomed as heroes, but here in the U.S., we don’t trust our own army.