Should the Military be Called Out for Civilian Disturbance?

I would say such could occur only as a last resort. Even then, it might only be for guard duty and rendering aid. After having been trained so we would be familiar with what was necessary to do, 4th Bn 10th Marines along with elements of the Army were ready. Never happened in 70 and 71. If anything, we were organized and would never be given live rounds.

Then there are things such as national disasters. The military has the vehicles to get to most everything needing aid or rescue.

Always prepare for what may never happen.

Opinion Piece

“Some 58% of Americans – including seven in 10 Democrats and half of Republicans – think the president should send armed troops only to face external threats, a sign of unease as President Donald Trump increasingly deploys National Guard troops to police American cities, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.”

Poll: Most Americans think military should face only external threats, Drew F. Lawrence

Most Americans believe the president should only deploy service members to face external threats and that troops and their leaders should steer clear of politics, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday.

The poll, which surveyed both Republicans and Democrats and ran over a five-day period starting last week, is the latest sign of public discomfort over President Donald Trump’s deployments of National Guard — and some active-duty troops earlier this summer — to police American cities whose elected leaders are Democrats.

Seventy-two percent of Democrats believed the military should only be used to combat threats outside of the U.S., according to the poll. They were joined in that view by a slim majority of Republicans at 51% who shared the same belief. Among all adults in the poll, including those without a party affiliation, 58% told the pollster that Trump should only deploy the military against external threats.

Trump deployed federalized National Guard troops and active-duty Marines to Los Angeles starting over the summer. Since then, the administration has been ramping up troop deployments to American cities, drawing ire and immediate lawsuits from the Democratic leaders who run them.

In Chicago, some 500 National Guard troops from Texas and Illinois arrived in the area on Wednesday over the objections — and lawsuits — of Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson. Trump went a step farther Wednesday, posting that Pritzker and Johnson “should be in jail for failing to protect” Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

In Oregon, the White House won a partial court victory Wednesday in its effort to deploy that state’s guard to Portland. A federal judge allowed the administration to federalize state troops over the governor’s objection, but ruled they could not be deployed until a lawsuit on their status proceeds next week.

In Washington D.C., guard troops remain on duty after the administration deployed troops there in August. They have largely been photographed picking up trash around the city. The deployment also wrought a lawsuit from the city.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called an unprecedented meeting of hundreds of generals and admirals in Quantico, Virginia, last week where Trump suggested that the military use American cities as “training grounds.” He also told the senior leaders that the military faces “a war from within.”