Why Is a US Army Brigade Being Assigned to the 'Homeland'?

?Several bloggers today have pointed to this obviously disturbing article from Army Times, which announces that 'beginning Oct. 1 for 12 months, the [1st Brigade Combat Team of the 3rd Infantry Division] will be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North' -- 'the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to NorthCom, a joint command established in 2002 to provide command and control for federal homeland defense efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities.'? [I'm just surprised that it's not an entire corps. - Ed.]