Air Force Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, head of U.S. Northern Command, told lawmakers that NORTHCOM has no plans to use U.S. cities as “training grounds” as President Donald Trump recently suggested to a room full of his top military leaders.
Guillot appeared Dec. 11 before the Senate Armed Services Committee with two other Pentagon officials to discuss National Guard deployments in cities such as Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles; Chicago; and Memphis, Tenn.
President Donald Trump and many Republican lawmakers have argued the deployments are necessary to combat violent crime, rioting, drug trafficking, and gang activity. In some cases, Guard members have been tasked with protecting federal agents or buildings; in others, they have assisted law enforcement and performed patrols.
In a Sept. 30 speech to senior U.S. military leaders, Trump said the Guard was needed to restore public safety and that he had told Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth “we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military.”
But Guillot told lawmakers that he knew of no policy authorizing the use of civilian communities as training grounds.
“I have not been consulted nor directed to use any American cities for training,” Guillot said.
The Army National Guard has been responsible for most of the deployments thus far, but the Air National Guard has contributed Airmen as well.
In D.C., for example, the Joint Task Force in charge of the operation estimates that there are approximately 2,980 Army Guard members compared to 200 Air Guardsmen.
An Airman was one of two West Virginia National Guard members shot two weeks ago in D.C. by a lone gunman. Army Spec. Sarah Beckstrom died, and Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe was critically wounded the day before Thanksgiving. Since the shooting, another 560 Guard members have deployed to D.C. at Trump’s request.
During the Dec. 11 hearing, Republican lawmakers voiced support for the National Guard deployments.
“These strategic deployments are not only appropriate but essential,” Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said. “Current crime rates in our largest cities have become a substantial burden on local and federal law enforcement agencies, increasingly, these agencies are unable to keep our communities safe.”
But Democrats argued that deploying National Guard to cities is not a long-term solution for reducing criminal activity and should be left to local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.
Other lawmakers also pressed Guillot about Trump’s comments during the Sept. 30 speech where he suggested using the military against “the enemy from within.”
“The president essentially indicated that you should be prepared to conduct military operations in the United States against this enemy within. Are you doing that, sir?” Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) asked Guillot.
“I do not have any indications of an enemy within,” Guillot answered. “We maintain readiness to execute the orders to defend the homeland in many ways, but I’ve not been tasked in that way.”
“We defend the United States and U.S. citizens,” Guillot said. “We do not view them as enemies.”
