The Connecticut National Guard said it will comply with a recent memorandum from the federal government regarding the National Guard Response Force implementation but it won’t include developing a quick reaction force to deal with civil disturbances and riots.
“As with all lawful orders, the Connecticut National Guard is in the process of developing a plan to comply with and implement the National Guard Bureau guidance based on the Oct. 8 memorandum regarding the National Guard Response Force implementation. However, inherent to most military planning efforts, there are various factors and considerations to work through,” said Major Michael J. Wilcoxson, director of public affairs for the Connecticut National Guard.
According to the Associated Press, a set of memos circulated in October directing guard units in all 50 states and U.S. territories, except for the District of Columbia, to “train a contingent of soldiers in a specialized course that includes the proper use of batons, body shields, stun guns and pepper spray.”
Wilcoxson noted that Connecticut was not one of the state’s directed to implement a National Guard Quick Response Force, from which he made a distinction from a National Guard Response Force.
“The Connecticut National Guard has not been directed to implement a National Guard Quick Response Force as some other states may have been,” Wilcoxson said. “NGRFs are distinct from NGQRFs. Regarding NGQRFs, they will be aligned with National Guard Homeland Response Forces, or Homeland Response Forces, one in each FEMA region. Connecticut does not have a HRF mission and is not part of the QRF construct.”
A National Guard Response Force responds to disasters, threats, medical triage, natural disasters, biological threats, infrastructure security and more.
Wilcoxson said the capabilities described in the memorandum are not new to the Connecticut National Guard, and noted that the state has had a National Guard Response Force for nearly 20 years.
“Designated units with such capabilities have been used in the past in support of civil authorities, such as providing security at key infrastructure sites in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001, assisting local police along the shoreline in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy in 2012, and responding to alleged threats against the Connecticut Capitol Building in the aftermath of January 6, 2021,” Wilcoxson said.
Wilcoxson added that the Connecticut National Guard has “had units that are trained and proficient in civil disturbance operations since at least 1985.”
President Donald Trump referred to quick reaction force as a part of his Aug. 25 executive orders.
“The Secretary of Defense shall immediately begin ensuring that each state’s Army National Guard and Air National Guard are resourced, trained, organized, and available to assist federal, state and local law enforcement in quelling civil disturbances and ensuring the public safety and order whenever the circumstances necessitate, as appropriate under law,” the order reads.
“In coordination with the respective adjutants general, the Secretary of Defense shall designate an appropriate number of each state’s trained National Guard members to be reasonably available for rapid mobilization for such purposes. In addition, the Secretary of Defense shall ensure the availability of a standing National Guard quick reaction force that shall be resourced, trained, and available for rapid nationwide deployment.”
Kenneth Gray, a professor of Practice of Criminal Justice at the University of New Haven and a retired FBI special agent, said the National Guard already has a reaction force for emergencies but noted that this one is unique.
“With this idea, President Trump wants, at a moment’s notice, if necessary, be able to deploy the National Guard to handle civil disturbances in preparation for extending the National Guard use in major cities,” Gray said.
“This is for the National Guard to be able to put troops on the ground quickly. The idea here is that in the event of civil disturbance, the president is able to have the National Guard put 125 troops deployed in eight hours and 500 deployed within 24 hours.”
Gray explained that the National Guard normally takes time to get personnel recalled, suited up and briefed on their mission.
“The establishment of the QRF for civil disturbance would mean they have training to handle civil disturbances and be able to put troops into the streets at a moment’s notice,” Gray said.
“I’m former law enforcement myself. I was an FBI special agent, and I see around the country federal law enforcement facilities that have come under attack and so I think in those cases National Guard has been used to help support the federal agents to do their missions to protect their facilities,” he said. “I see the ability to field National Guard forces in the streets quickly is helpful from the aspect to protect federal buildings in the event of a disturbance.”
Gray said those who oppose this action would ask who does the National Guard work for the governors or the president?
“The answer to that question is both,” Gray said. “The National Guard can be called up by the governor to be used as needed for natural disasters or any type of need where you need manpower in the field. The president, because he can federalize those troops, also has the ability to put troops into the field from the National Guard.”
An inquiry to Gov. Ned Lamont’s office was forwarded to the Connecticut National Guard.
This year, the National Guard has been deployed or attempted to be deployed to cities around the country including Los Angeles, Chicago, Portland and Memphis, which has become a cause for concern for U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.
“Our military should be used to defend us from foreign adversaries, not to crush dissent or silence peaceful protest,” Blumenthal said in a statement to the Courant. “This latest directive from the Trump Administration is deeply troubling and could have enormous impacts on Americans’ civil liberties. Congress must act quickly to pass my Insurrection Act reforms that would impose strong oversight and accountability to the president’s power to use military force against Americans at home.”
Last month, Blumenthal, along with U.S. Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin from Illinois, spoke on the Senate floor to push back against what they said was “President Trump’s wrongful and dangerous deployment of National Guard troops into American cities.”
Gray said this has already been and will continue to be contested in courts. On Monday, a federal judge in blocked the Trump Administration from deploying National Guard troops to Portland. The case around the decision to deploy National Guard troops in Chicago will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.
“There have been some judges who have tried to block the deployment of troops in some cities. It’s varied from district to district from whether they were able to block that,” Gray said. “I do see President Trump planning to continue to utilize the National Guard in support of law enforcement in some of these cities that have a very high crime rate. I think it’s an attempt to reduce extremely high crime rates in some blue cities.”