A memo dated Oct. 8 and signed by Maj. Gen. Ronald Burkett, Director of Operations for the National Guard Bureau, instructs National Guard units from nearly every U.S. state, as well as Puerto Rico and Guam, to train 500 service members for rapid deployment. According to reporting by Task & Purpose, smaller states such as Delaware will train 250 troops, Alaska will train 350, and Guam will train 100.
This follows a separate Pentagon directive from September — revealed by The Guardian — ordering the D.C. National Guard to establish a new specialized military police battalion tasked with maintaining “safety and public order” in the nation’s capital when required.
The new memo states that the Pentagon will send instructors to support the training effort so that all quick reaction forces are fully operational by January 1, 2026. Each participating state and territory will receive 100 sets of crowd-control gear, including Tasers, pepper spray, batons, and protective shields.
The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.
In recent months, the Trump administration has increasingly used National Guard personnel inside the United States, deploying them to cities largely led by Democratic officials under the justification of helping address crime. On Aug. 25, President Trump ordered the mobilization of the D.C. National Guard over objections from local leadership, arguing the deployment was necessary due to rising crime — even though available data showed crime had declined over the previous two years. Since arriving more than two months ago, Guard troops have been primarily assigned to public maintenance tasks, such as trash cleanup and landscaping.