According to a US official, the National Guard plans to train up to 500 soldiers per state to serve as part of a rapid response force focused on civil unrest missions.
The move follows an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in August that called for each state to have National Guard quick reaction forces that could be deployed on short notice to “quell civil unrest and ensure public safety and order.”
Each state will be required to have a quick reaction force ready by early next year and most states will be required to have 500 troops assigned to the force.
Members of the National Guard stand at Union Station in Washington, DC, USA, on October 27, 2025.
Kylie Cooper/Reuters
The development was first reported by The Guardian, which obtained a copy of an Oct. 8 internal National Guard memo detailing each state’s allocation. The Guardian posted the memo on its website.
Each of the 50 states and four territories with National Guards already have quick reaction forces dedicated to assisting in natural disasters and civil unrest.
It is unclear whether the forces described in the memo are additional to these or if they are a larger version specifically trained for civil unrest.
It is also unclear how the force would differ from existing quick reaction forces already available to each state.
Over the summer, Trump deployed thousands of National Guard troops to Los Angeles amid protests over increased immigration enforcement there and then to Washington, D.C., as part of what he called a crime-fighting initiative.
The Trump administration has also sought to deploy Civil Guard troops to Chicago and Portland.
