Pentagon Orders National Guard to Establish Quick-Reaction Forces for Civil Unrest, Riots
Move comes after Trump ordered expansion of military units for responding to domestic disorder
The Wall Street Journal Updated Oct. 29, 2025 7
WASHINGTON—The Pentagon has ordered the National Guard to create “quick reaction” forces in every state and territory by January that are trained and equipped to respond to riots and civil unrest within the U.S., according to internal Defense Department memos.
The riot control units are a major shift for the Pentagon, underscoring the Trump administration’s push to directly involve the military in responding to protests and other domestic missions that have been off-limits except in emergencies.
As many as 500 soldiers in each state or territory National Guard organization will be assigned to deploy in the U.S. on short notice and receive nonlethal training in crowd control, handling of detainees and use of batons, stun guns and body shields, according to the Pentagon directives.
President Trump directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in August to set up the specialized units. The memos, which were sent to state Guard organizations as guidance for setting up the quick reaction forces, were reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The Guardian previously reported the directives.
They indicate that the Pentagon is carrying out Trump’s order on a large-scale and expedited timeline.
“The Department of War will be prepared to immediately provide support to Federal, state and local law enforcement to address threats of civil disturbance,” Hegseth said in a Sept. 24 memo ordering the creation of the “National Guard Response Force” for “rapid mobilization as the circumstances require.”
Trump has repeatedly pushed for expanding the military’s role in confronting domestic unrest, both during the 2020 George Floyd protests and since returning to office, when he has ordered Guard and active duty military units to multiple cities to assist law enforcement agencies.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday during his trip to Asia, Trump referred to deploying the military domestically. “I could send the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines. I could send anybody I wanted. But I haven’t done that because we’re doing well without it.”
Retired Army Maj. Gen. Randy Manner, a former senior Guard commander, said the creation of dedicated units for crowd control diverts the Guard from its primary mission to prepare for overseas combat and risks blurring the military’s traditional separation from domestic politics.
“There is no need for this. No mission requires this,” he said. “Every American, I don’t care what state you’re from, should understand this isn’t what we signed up for.”
A National Guard official said the Guard is working with the Pentagon and state leaders to carry out Trump’s August executive order.
The National Guard Bureau, the Pentagon office that oversees state Guard organizations, will train and equip the units in “civil disturbance operations,” providing each with “100 sets of crowd control equipment,” according to one of the memos. Soldiers will be equipped with face and body shields, expandable riot batons, and shin guards for “Crowd Control/Detainee Ops” and “Hasty Checkpoint Ops,” another said.
The “quick reaction” forces in all 50 states as well as Guam, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico will be “prepared to deploy with 25% of the force in hours, 50% of the force in 12 hours and 100% of the force in 24 hours,” it said.
Unlike in other states and territories, Washington, D.C.’s National Guard was ordered to maintain a specialized military police battalion for responding to civil unrest, according to one of the documents.
Most state National Guard organizations have existing quick reaction forces that have historically been used for domestic disaster relief, where their mission would include area security and re-establishing essential services, not on domestic law enforcement or crowd control.
The quick reaction forces tend to be ad hoc and aren’t permanently designated for responding to civil disturbances. Training in crowd control and responding to protests isn’t a major mission for the Guard.
In some states, the plans formalizing Guard training for domestic response missions are already being put into motion, including identifying troops for the quick-mobilization units, a person involved in the implementation said.
In recent months, Trump has increasingly turned to the National Guard for domestic operations once considered off-limits, triggering a fierce legal debate over the U.S. military’s expanding footprint at home.
In June, Trump dispatched National Guard troops to Los Angeles in response to protests and to protect federal immigration facilities, over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. More than 2,500 National Guard troops from Washington, D.C., and several states have been patrolling the capital since August under a federally declared “crime emergency.” Earlier this month, Guard units began street patrols in Memphis with local police.
National Guard deployments to Chicago and Portland, Ore., ordered by Trump are tied up in court. The troops can’t make arrests and can only temporarily detain individuals deemed to pose a threat before handing them over to police.
State and local officials have disputed Trump officials’ allegations that their cities are hotbeds of political violence or pose a security threat.
“There is no need for military intervention in Oregon,” the state’s governor, Tina Kotek, said on Oct. 8. “There is no insurrection in Portland. No threat to national security. Oregon is our home, not a military target.”
Write to Vera Bergengruen at vera.bergengruen@wsj.com, Lara Seligman at lara.seligman@wsj.com and Dan Lyon at dan.lyon@wsj.com
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Appeared in the October 30, 2025, print edition as 'National Guard Ordered to Train Crowd-Control Units'.