Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox
Get our free Inside Washington email
Get our free Inside Washington email
The U.S. military has issued an order to the National Guard in all 50 states and four territories to form rapid-response units that can be sent out on demand to contain civil unrest, armed with batons, body shields, Tasers, and pepper spray.
An internal memo published by The Guardian, dated October 8 and signed by Major General Ronald Burkett, Director of Operations for the Pentagon’s National Guard Bureau, orders the training of around 500 troops per state, for a total of 23,500.
The memo states that Pete Hegseth’s Department of War will deploy military trainers to every state and territory to get the program “operational” by January 1, 2026.
open image in gallery
Members of the National Guard patrol the Mall in Washington, D.C., as part of President Donald Trump’s order to impose federal law enforcement in the nation’s capital in August (AP)
Each location will also be provided with “100 sets of crowd control equipment to be used to support this requirement,” and says their troops will be trained in how to “form squad-sized riot control formation,” how to use a riot baton and shield, and how to “supervise a riot/crowd control operation,” as well as de-escalation techniques.
They will be expected to report their progress to the Pentagon monthly.
The instructions make good on an executive order issued by President Donald Trump in August in which he called on Hegseth to ensure “each state’s Army National Guard and Air National Guard are resourced, trained, organized, and available to assist federal, state, and local law enforcement in quelling civil disturbances and ensuring the public safety and order whenever the circumstances necessitate.”
Trump’s order also specifically commanded the secretary to “ensure the availability of a standing National Guard quick reaction force that shall be resourced, trained, and available for rapid nationwide deployment.”
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said concerning the October memo: “The president has lawfully deployed the National Guard to several cities either in response to violent riots that local leaders have refused to quell, or by invitation to assist local law enforcement as appropriate.
open image in gallery
Members of the Guard on duty at Union Station in Washington, D.C., on Monday (Reuters)
“President Trump and the entire administration is working to make America safe again. The tremendous results from cities like Memphis and D.C., where crime has significantly dropped following national guard deployments, debunk all of the fearmongering and lies.”
But not everyone is reassured. Janessa Goldbeck, a former U.S. Marine Corps captain and chief executive of the Vet Voice Foundation, told The Guardian the order represented “an attempt by the president to normalize a national, militarized police force.”
Goldbeck warned such forces could be used in states led by Democratic governors without their permission or even deployed to suppress turnout at elections.
“The president could declare a state of emergency and say that elections are rigged and use allegations of voter fraud to seize the ballots of secure voting centers,” she said, outlining a worst-case scenario.
Trump has already deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., this year to help local law enforcement tackle urban crime, despite official statistics suggesting no such step was necessary, and has since attempted to follow suit in other Democrat-run cities like Chicago and Portland, Oregon, only to run into obstacles in court.
