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The Pentagon is reportedly drawing up plans for a “reaction force” of hundreds of National Guard members who would be ready to deploy at any moment to help quell civil unrest.
The plan, reported by the Washington Post, for a “Domestic Civil Disturbance Quick Reaction Force” calls for 600 troops on standby at all times, ready to deploy in as little as one hour, The troops would reportedly be split into two groups of 300, stationed at military bases in Alabama and Arizona.
The documents, reportedly prepared for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth by policy chief Elbridge Colby, outline a “predecisional” idea.
“The Department of Defense is a planning organization and routinely reviews how the department would respond to a variety of contingencies across the globe,” a defense official told Fox News Digital. ” We will not discuss these plans through leaked documents, pre-decisional or otherwise.”
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Trump has already deployed the military for domestic purposes, first in Los Angeles in June, sending 5,000 National Guard members and Marines to tamp down anti-immigration enforcement riots. On Monday, he deployed 800 D.C. National Guard troops to support law enforcement in Washington, D.C., in cracking down on violent crime.
The administration has also sent thousands of troops to the southern border in a show of force to discourage illegal immigration.
The administration would rely on Title 32, a status in which the National Guard operates under the command of a state governor but is funded by the federal government, according to the Post. The authority is typically used for domestic missions, such as responding to natural disasters. When deployed under Title 32, Guard members may be granted limited law enforcement powers. A section of the U.S. Code allows the commander in chief to bypass certain restrictions on using the military for domestic purposes.
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The troops, from the Army and Air Force National Guard, would be outfitted with weapons and riot gear and receive training for the mission.
The quick reaction teams would work on 90-day rotations to “limit burnout.”
The documents also laid out potential negative implications of the idea: questions about appropriate civil-military balance and legal considerations, budget and logistical constraints, and reduced availability for local emergency missions.
The National Guard first tested the concept of a reaction force ahead of the 2020 election, when 60 troops in Arizona and Alabama were told to be on alert and ready to deploy to respond to political violence. The Guard deployed to numerous locations to respond to protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
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