A heavily armed militia cell apparently was broken up with the arrest of a Montana man who had disappeared while awaiting trial for allegedly assaulting a police officer, authorities said Monday.

David E. Bergert, 37, was arrested earlier this month after a 24-hour standoff with Flathead County sheriff's deputies near his home in Kalispell, Mont.

His companion, Tracy Brockway, was arrested at the same time and charged with obstructing justice for allegedly aiding Bergert.

After the arrests on Feb. 8, authorities served several search warrants, seizing machine guns, a silencer, 25,000 rounds of ammunition, booby traps, body armor, commercial explosives, shackles and pipe bomb components.

It took detectives three days to catalog the massive arsenal kept in two trailers, authorities said.

"These guys were ready for war," one senior law enforcement official said.

"They apparently believed the Chinese army was massing just to the north, in Canada, and was about to invade."

Flathead County is designated as "7" in Montana's state license plate system, and the militia group apparently took its name from that, authorities said.

Bergert and Brockway are the only people who have been arrested, but investigators aren't ruling out the possibility of other arrests.

No federal charges have been filed, but indictments are expected, authorities said.

ATF agents are due in Kalispell today to begin the illegal firearms investigation, said ATF regional chief Ken Bray in Helena.

One lead they are pursuing is that Brockway's husband, anti-government activist Alan Brockway, is in Israel, working in some capacity for the Israeli army, authorities said.

Alan Brockway operated an illegal, anti-government FM radio station, called "Free Thought Radio," in Kalispell before leaving the area last year, authorities said.

"We believe that he's joined the Israeli Army and is over in Israel as a soldier," said Commander Maxine Lamb of the Flathead County Sheriff's Department.

Esch, the Flathead County prosecutor, said he has information that Alan Brockway is working as a consultant to the Israeli army.

"I don't know what to think about this," Esch said.

Bergert faced trial Feb. 11 on a charge of assaulting a police officer last year. The trial was postponed, and he now faces an additional charge of bail jumping.

The assault allegedly occurred during an incident in which Bergert was a passenger in a car driven by his friend, Bob Cesnick, who refused to pull over for sheriff's deputies and drove to Bergert's home.

Bergert previously has said he was a member of the Militia of Montana. He showed up last year at a water-rights standoff between federal agents and anti-government activists and farmers near Klamath Falls, Ore.

Bergert, who owned a power sports rental business, disappeared Jan. 8, and was reported missing by his wife. His abandoned pickup truck later was found parked near the Flathead River.

On Feb. 7, deputies got a tip that Bergert was staying at a survivalist camp in a rural area near Kalispell. They found the camp, but not Bergert.

Later that day he was spotted by other deputies who were watching Brockway's rural home. Deputies followed as the pair drove away in a pickup that later ran off the icy road.

Deputies quickly arrested Brockway but, as darkness fell, Bergert disappeared in the snowy woods.

When he was finally tracked down at daybreak, he held a rifle to his head and threatened to kill himself if deputies approached, deputies said.

After lengthy discussion with a sheriff's negotiator, Bergert surrendered.

Bergert was a frequent caller to a talk radio station, KGEZ-AM, operated in Kalispell by longtime patriot activist John Stokes.

"Freedom County," a patriots-group attempt at common-law government in Western Washington, before he moved to Kalispell and bought the radio station.

*Bill Morlin can be reached at (509) 459-5444 or by e-mail at billlm@spokesman.com