Military
What The Founders Feared
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What The Founders Feared

The U.S. National Guard has been ordered by the federal government to act as a long-term security force at the Capitol. This is against the will of the Founders. ...
Major General Donald A. McGregor, USAF (Ret.)

Fox News published an article on March 11 entitled “Defense Secretary Austin overruled National Guard chief on keeping troops at Capitol: memo.” To the average reader, this may appear to be a sensationalized story throwing fuel on the embers of an already-charred issue in our Capitol. But the story captures the growing and troubling divide between the secretary of defense and the chief of the National Guard Bureau over the appropriate use of the National Guard, and reveals a much larger and more concerning dilemma — something our Founding Fathers feared most.

The Fox article references a defense memo — in military terms a “coordination sheet” — normally used to “concur or non-concur” on issues within the Department of Defense. In this particular instance, a memo from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin requested an “Extension of NG [National Guard] support to U.S. Capitol Police” with an additional 2,280 guardsmen to support the U.S. Capitol Police security detail beyond March 12. 

From my experience in the Pentagon, this type of appeal is not easily granted. It usually requires a stringent justifying ration-ale and reason that explains the request’s urgency. Each submission is officially petitioned through a formal request for assistance and sent to the Defense Department’s executive secretary, where it is staffed for coordination — an arduous process involving rigorous approval criteria that can take weeks. This is where the problem begins.

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