Military leaders have ordered the National Guard in every state to develop a \u201cquick reaction force\u201d of troops trained to deal with civil disturbances and riots that can be ready to deploy with just hours\u2019 notice, the latest indication of longer-term Trump administration plans to more readily dispatch soldiers to U.S. streets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A set of memos circulated this month directs Guard units in all 50 states and U.S. territories, except for the District of Columbia, to train a contingent of soldiers in a specialized course that includes the proper use of batons, body shields, stun guns and pepper spray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Signed by Major Gen. Ronald Burkett, operations director for the National Guard, the memos reviewed by The Associated Press give various numbers for each state\u2019s force \u2014 often 500 each \u2014 that total more than 23,000 troops in all. The memos direct Washington, D.C., to maintain a \u201cspecialized\u201d military police battalion with 50 National Guard soldiers on active duty orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It presses forward with President Donald Trump\u2019s broader vision for a muscular role for the U.S. military in targeting illegal immigration and crime. He has already pushed traditional boundaries by sending the National Guard into American cities, often over the objection of Democratic local leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The memos, reported earlier by The Guardian, come after Trump signed an executive order in August that directed the Pentagon to create quick reaction forces that would be \u201cavailable for rapid nationwide deployment.\u201d The executive order is cited as one of the authorities for the memo, about which the Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The National Guard has always had troops that were on standby to deploy at a moment\u2019s notice, but they traditionally have been used to quickly react to natural disasters and did not receive special training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new, specialized quick reaction forces will be able to deploy a fourth of all their troops within eight hours and all of those assigned to the units within a day, according to the memo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During a roundtable at the White House last week with homeland security officials, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was asked about a memo detailing similar plans. Hegseth said he would not comment on the \u201cparticulars\u201d but went on to say that there were \u201cmultiple layers of National Guard response forces.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of different ways that, constitutionally and legally, we can employ\u201d Guard troops, and \u201cwe will do so when necessary,\u201d Hegseth said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Trump has sent the National Guard into cities including Los Angeles and D.C., his efforts to deploy troops in other places have faced swift legal challenges. The Trump administration is blocked from sending troops into the Chicago area until at least the latter half of November, following a U.S. Supreme Court order calling on the sides to file additional legal briefs. And a federal trial seeking to block a troop deployment in Portland, Oregon, got underway this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The memos, which were sent out to the states early this month, mandate that each state and territory have its quick reaction forces operational by Jan. 1, 2026. To help with that goal, units will be provided 100 sets of crowd control equipment as well as two full-time trainers by the National Guard Bureau.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The units also will be allowed to use an additional five days of training for soldiers to get through the \u201cInterservice Nonlethal Individual Weapons Instructor Course.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to one of the memos, the initial portion of the course includes topics like \u201ccrowd management techniques,\u201d \u201cdomestic civil disturbance training,\u201d and \u201cproper use of baton and body shields.\u201d The intermediate portion focuses on the use of non-lethal weapons like Tasers and pepper spray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Each National Guard unit is required to update military leaders monthly on its progress in meeting this new mandate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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