Retired Major General on the High Costs of Deploying the National Guard

National Guard's Role and Limitations

• 🛡️ The National Guard is a trained military reserve force, not a civilian law enforcement agency or police force.
• ⚖️ Deploying the Guard for domestic law enforcement is an inappropriate use of their military capabilities.

Financial and Societal Costs

• 💰 Deploying the National Guard can cost millions, with an example of $140 million for a couple of months in Los Angeles.
• 💸 These funds could instead be used to hire a significant number of police officers trained for domestic law enforcement.
• 🌍 Funds spent on domestic deployments could be diverted from other critical National Guard missions like hurricane recovery, flood fighting, or overseas combat.

Impact on Individual Guardsmen and Families

• 📚 Guardsmen are often part-time soldiers with civilian jobs and educational pursuits; deployments can disrupt entire semesters of schooling.
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Deployments also take individuals away from their families and potentially higher-paying jobs.
• 🏢 Employers face challenges finding replacements for guardsmen called away, impacting business operations.

Political Motivations and Legal Challenges

• 🎭 Deploying the National Guard for crime crackdowns can be seen as political theater and an attempt to politicize the military.
• ⚖️ Legal challenges exist against federal mobilization of the National Guard for domestic issues, with past lawsuits lost by the federal government.
• 📜 The federal government has limitations on mobilizing the National Guard domestically unless specific prerequisites like rebellion or invasion are met.

Strategic Deployment Considerations

• 📍 Deploying the Guard to a red state city is often easier for the president than deploying to a blue state city due to legal frameworks and political dynamics.
• 🤝 Presidents may seek cooperative governors in red states to mobilize the Guard under Title 32 to avoid direct confrontation or legal battles.