A brand new mission is changing the role of the United States military from our defenders overseas to our support system here at home.

  Leading the way- Missouri soldiers from Fort Leonard Wood, and they are doing it without weapons.

  KSPR's Joanna Small takes us on a three-part series ending at Camp Atterbury, Indiana, where the mission comes to life for the very first time, and beginning in the Show- Me State where it gets off the ground.

  In an exercise at Fort Leonard Wood soldiers are in the drivers' seats as they convoy from the fort to Springfield.

  They are testing their equipment to make sure it's ready to go at a moment's notice on a mission where they're taking the backseat to other authorities.

  "We're not going in to take over anything. We are working in conjunction with local authorities already on the scene. We are part of the team to help all Americans," explains Sergeant Major Bryan Steele.

  Helping Americans, a concept quite familiar to the United States Army, and these soldiers at Fort Wood.

  But doing it as back-up is a new approach.

  "We knew there were things that didn't go well."

  Colonel Rob Risberg, the officer over the 4th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade at Fort Leonard Wood, is talking about domestic disasters of the past- Hurricane Katrina, 9-11, tramatic events that could have been handled better by the agencies that responded, including the military.

  To ensure history does not repeat itself, the 4th MEB, in conjunction with brigades from across the country, is taking on a new internal mission.

  "There have always been organizations that have done similar types of things- standing by to help state and local agencies for a number of years," explains Colonel Risberg.

  But now a force 4,500 strong is assigned specifically to assist in the event of disasters on American soil.; their mission is called CCMRF.

  It's an acronym within an acronym.

  The first "C" is CBRNE: Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, high yield Explosive.

  The CMRF portion stands for Consequence Management Response Force- to any of those.

  These soldiers are part of that force, but they aren't using force.

  "Our mission is not law enforcement, and the Passe Comitatus Act prohibits federal officials from being used in a law enforcement capacity," Colonel Risberg says.

  Armed instead with specialized equipment, the military is playing second-string. "

  The guard is the primary responder. We would only come to an incident site if they had maxed out all of their capabilities, so we aren't going to be the first guys on the ground if something happens."

  But they are making history as the second.