The National Guard is building a “quick reaction force” (QRF) of some 23,500 troops trained in crowd control and civil disturbance that can be ready to deploy to U.S. cities by early next year, according to a leaked memo reported by multiple outlets Wednesday.
The Oct. 8 memo, signed by National Guard Bureau Director of Operations Maj. Gen. Ronald Burkett, orders the Guard from nearly every U.S. state, Puerto Rico and Guam to train 500 service members. States with smaller populations such as Delaware will have 250 troops in its force, while Alaska will have 350 and Guam will have 100, Task & Purpose reported.
A previous Pentagon memo issued in September, and revealed by The Guardian, had mandated that the Washington, D.C., National Guard create a “specialized military police battalion” within it “dedicated to ensuring safety and public order in the Nation’s capital as the circumstances may necessitate.”
The latest document also stipulates that the Pentagon will send military trainers to the states and territories so the QRFs will be operational by Jan. 1, 2026. Each state also will be given “100 sets of crowd control equipment to be used to support this requirement,” such as Tasers, pepper spray, batons, and body shields.
The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment from The Hill.
The Trump administration has increasingly moved to use the U.S. military to push his political agenda domestically via sending National Guard troops into largely Democrat-run cities under the claim of helping fight crime.
President Trump in an Aug. 25 executive order mobilized the D.C. National Guard to the nation’s capital over the objections of city leaders. Trump at the time claimed the city’s crime was out of control, despite data showing that rates had dropped over the past two years. In their more than two months in the city, guard members have largely been helping with “beautification” efforts such as picking up trash and laying mulch.
Trump has also activated the National Guard Los Angeles to quell largely peaceful protests over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities in the city and has attempted to send them to Portland, Ore. and Chicago, among other cities, but so far has been blocked by the courts.
A National Guard spokesperson told Task & Purpose that the bureau is coordinating with the Pentagon and the U.S. states and territories “in planning that will implement the direction” Trump laid out in the Aug. 25 order.
The creation of national QRFs is not unprecedented, but they usually occur after serious emergencies such as when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005.
“This is different because we’re essentially establishing a unit for space to respond to civilian activities,” a Guard member told Task & Purpose. “We are ready to go when we’re called upon. We’re not asked to stand up an entire unit ready to quell dissent at any moment.”
The troops are to be trained in how to “form Squad-sized Riot Control Formation,” how to “employ a Riot Baton as a Member of a Riot Control Formation,” and how to “Supervise a Riot/Crowd Control Operation,” as well as de-escalation of force techniques, according to the memo.
Each state must report monthly on its progress via an online defense readiness reporting system.
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