For the record, our division commander BANNED things called “presence patrols” in Iraq.
“If you don’t have a specific task & purpose, your ‘presence’ doesn’t do anything.”
National Guard stating they are now doing presence patrols in DC.
A complete waste of soldier’s time & effort.
And tax dollars
And Stephen Miller just claimed, "DC is worse than Fallujah".
Perhaps it's time for vets to rise up en masse in protest, and for active duty service members to mutiny?
This regime all of it needs to be neutered & removed ASAP.
The felon is testing how far he can push our military before either the SCOTUS or commanders stop him. So far, nobody has.
Yea well maybe they should say fucking no then! Maybe stop propping these mfers on a gd pedestal as if they don't have choices! These are grown ass adults. Grown ass traitors.
I’d say it doesn’t do anything good, but reminds those who must experience the presence that soldiers are there as a reminder that the civilians are living under occupation, and in this case also as a threat.
I suggest giving troops snacks & soda. Show them we understand it’s not them it’s the administration. Nothing but love for our troops. I’m sure they don’t really want to be there under these conditions.
Correct
I've got a question for you Mark. Are those actually national guard members or his goons?
...and waste of taxpayer $$$ 😢
Mutiny....
Just Intimidation.
Also a complete waste of resources and money. So much for DOGE🤬
It would seem their sole purpose is intimidation.
They’re hoping to instigate a photo op
I’m not sure if you’ve ever been to New York, but this is every day. Police walking the streets, looking for Black men to shake down.
Guess what’s coming to DC
And our tax money.
I agree that patrolling DC is a complete waste of time for our Guardsmen, but I'd like Gen. Hertling to explain more about "presence patrolling." In normal circumstances, isn't it better to establish control of an area BEFORE trouble breaks out?
People need to make sure that every military person patrolling DC streets is within earshot of residents and visitors telling them how dishonorable they are for allowing themselves to be used by a fascist moron.
I no longer trust any military
It's just begging for trouble on a par with leaving a child alone in a room with a cookie jar, a match, a knife, or maybe an AR... It just invites problems.
The point is to induce the public to attack them as an excuse to then retaliate. They're walking targets. This is our military when being run by a drunk and a senile dictator who should be in a memory-care unit, not the Oval Office.
Agreed
Amen! So many better things to do with their time like improving their readiness for war.
There were many incredible innovations to come out of our peacekeeping experience in the Balkans (THTs!). Presence patrols were not one of them. It was Underpants Gnomes doctrine - Phase 1 - walk around. Phase 3 -peace & stability. Phase 2 - hadn't thought of that yet.
I think it's all the commanders of the DC guard will allow - a show of farce.
And taxes.
Donald's diversion.
It's NOT working.
#ReleaseTheEpsteinFiles
Where are these troops being housed? Sleeping on concrete floors? Or maybe tents? Don't confuse them with the homeless. You don't know where you might end up.
And taxpayer dollars!!! 👎👎👿👿🤬🤬 This regime is nothing but waste and fraud!
Are you bragging about your time occupying a sovereign nation? Repulsive as fuck warmongering.
This has to be somewhat humiliating for our brothers and sisters in arms.
Not a waste of their time and effort at all. They are there to acclimatise US citizens to the presence of the military on their streets. To the Whitehouse dictator, very necessary steps in the journey towards a submissive and intimidated populace living under permanent martial law.
tRump is Disrespecting our military on the daily
A waste til an autocratic leader sends them & others in to lock down the governance area of the city.
I mean, NG policing DC is a fascist waste of time and effort, but if your div commander thought PPP was a waste of time across the board they were misguided. Doing presence patrols for the sake of doing them is silly and wasteful, but doing them as part of a planned influence campaign is not.
And taxpayer money.
😡....🙄
It's just a matter of time before another Kent State happens. The military should never be turned against Americans; bad things happen to Americans, and Americans turn against the military.
Yet, apparently, no one can figure out how to stop it?
It’s okay to call the President of the United States a tyrant, Mark.
You can do it.
From rules of engagement to strict enforcement of the UCMJ, our armed forces have higher standards than our law enforcement.
Meanwhile any thug can become a cop or ICE and won't ever be held accountable.
The people we trained to kill have more discipline that the people supposed to protect.
this is yet another unconstitutional act by FOTUS
He should be removed from office ASAP
So very true...unless the goal is to intimidate people or normalize military uniforms on our streets.
I would think that a "presence patrol" in Iraq would be just making yourself a target while getting nothing in return. I suspect the same is more or less true in DC, although maybe to a lesser extent.
It's abusing the guard. They got better things to do than this.
And taxpayer $$
Arguably , could this be the NG intentionally doing nothing? rather than engaging with an outright batshit order. Although it is arguably intimidation
👏👏👏
And our taxpayer $$$
Intimidation Theater 🤬🤬👎👎‼️‼️
I’m sure no soldier signs up to “police their fellow citizens going about their daily activities…”. America has become an embarrassment
It’s not about protecting, it never will be. It’s flexing. He thinks he can intimidate the people of DC. 😂😂😂😂 Good luck with that Don!
Humiliating to send our soldiers for the republicans political stunt
dtrumpf didn’t care about the brutal J6 attacks against the Capitol Police and the destruction of the Capitol building that went on for hours as he watched
He pardon those thugs and hired them
What a sick group of people… gop
Imagine being trained to do a wide range of dutys only to be sent to stand around in 90+ degree weather for someone's vanity project. That would seem to deteriorate morale and confidence in leadership.
How does a soldier manage their oath vs an order? Trump is ordering many to violate their sworn oath. What do they do?
And please don’t use the word “deployment” for these TDYs. No Soldier “deploys” to a US city…they go there TDY. Save the word “deployment” for when Soldiers have to do real work on foreign soil / hostile soil.
Butbit makes the Orange Baboon feel like a man.
We don’t want our communities to turn on our military or blame them for these asinine orders of Trump.
May they all find a comfortable, well hidden place to nap on the job they shouldn’t be doing in DC.
not when the intent is to intimidate --
Not a waste of time if the goal is to intimidate a population and control elections.
Trump will go to any length to avoid releasing the Epstein material. Yes, he will kill people.
But the good news is it's gonna cost taxpayers a shit ton to do this.
And money
And a waste of money.
Oh, their presence is doing something all right. It's projecting Trump's power and telegraphing his intention to extend the practice as a prelude to martial law.
Except provide photo ops for RW media, to fuel up the base; and photo ops for MSM to outrage the rest of us. T wants demonstrations and unrest so he can "prove his point."
What it does achieve is to build resentment toward the National Guard for stooping so low as to participate in the fascist takeover of our democracy. Maybe that is Donaddled’s real goal.
Thanks for your expert input on this. It really helps those without military planning background.
Brown camo shirts
If you agree, don't just agree. Please get on the phone or e-mail and tell your reps in DC what you think about this. It only takes a few minutes/it doesn't cost any money. We don't need money in politics. We just need people to participate. www.nationalfinancialplan.com
that's cool what makes you think they're still our soldiers?
Amen.
The Mad NAZI Rapist King wants Kent state on a larger scale..
Also stops the soldiers becoming targets for dissatisfied residents. Soldiers should never be pawns in political games.
South Park…
You can't stop crime by occupying every inch of a city. Unless it is permanent. You must address the reasons for the crime to make a difference. Sigh.
Sir, all due respect, but what the hell are we gonna do about it?
Read they are unarmed too. It’s just a show of physical strength for when the revolution comes to his door step.
Bet this is amazing for morale. Nothing I expect a soldier likes better than putting on your full kit to walk around in D.C. summer heat and humidity for no good goddamn reason!
Question is: Will they dis/obey an illegal order?
Thank you for posting this comment!
Same thing with potential U.S. military ops against Latin American drug cartels (#2 below). What are the specific goals and how do we measure success?
Applies to the National Guard's "presence patrols" in D.C., especially as it has no law enforcement authority of which I'm aware.
Trump is Queen of the Photo-Op, remember the time he called National Park Police to clear protesters for his upside down Bible photo
Isn't the 'purpose' to intimidate?
AND MONEY!
I wonder if Pete Hegseth is aware of this?
While they're there, they should stop by the National Archives and bone-up on the Constitution they all swore an oath to protect and defend, and then go tour the Holocaust Museum to get a look at the trajectory MAGA has set our nation upon...
Also a waste of their valuable training.
But they’re great targets for false flag operations carried out by the Trump administration.
And I'm sure every single one of those college educated FBI agents are incredibly happy to be reduced to beat cops.
Theatrics for a man who’s been cosplaying as a competent person for the last five decades
Every single thought from his head is sheer stupidity
Every single person who agrees with him is a bigger waste of space
Found some of that waste, fraud, and abuse
Serious question: can national guard, or any military personnel for that matter, disobey an illegal order? Soldiers take an oath to defend the Constitution too, right?
We are not forgetting that #Krasnov The Orange Slug was best friends with the two most notorious pedophiles & honey trap managers in USA history, Epstein & Roy Cohn, who also happened to be Zionists.
We are not forgetting that The Orange Slug is a fascist traitor consciously destroying our republic
and tax payers dollars
It sure does have a purpose; it’s laying the ground for him killing people when they try to unseat him…America isn’t getting rid of MAGA without an internal armed conflict. Watch this space!
EXACTLY !!! A real leader WOULD be aware of this !!!
That is the task. Troops on the streets and Trump rules, regardless of US law
Presence Patrols=. Intimidation Patrols.
People are saying that Trump ordered the National Guardsmen to march in single phile.
Check out this very palpable hit by cartoonist Guy Richards Smit:
Remember Trump's idiotic deployment of the National guard June 2020. Hundreds of men standing guarding the Lincoln Memorial from nobody.
His purpose is aways to inflame, so he can claim more powers than he has already been granted.
If the President called them up, each and every single one of those troops are now eligible for FULL VA Benefits.
That's the only silver lining to this farce.
They'll get screwed over of course, but someone's gotta say it.
I hope some of the soldiers get tired of being used like goon pawns.
My grandson in in the Army....he won't play this game. Many other saying the same thing....he states.
Having personal “presence” matters enormously if you’re part of the community. If you’re a foreign interloper, in either Iraq or any US city, you’re in a different category and need to adjust your behavior accordingly.
I would love to see neighborhood groups put our snacks and bottled water with signage “Sorry you have to be away from your jobs and family for this spectacle. Please refresh yourselves with these snacks and water courtesy of the peaceful, law abiding residents of DC”
Unless of course the “task” is fear and intimidation
This is absolutely true!
Not to mention money.
But it tells the citizens of a U.S. city that they are occupied by a military body. It has a very specific purpose: quelling dissent and setting the stage for his final takeover of the entire country as dictator.
Sir: the dumpster fire, ie the clown administration, is all about vomiting lies, corruption and wasting taxpayer money. The repubs have done it over and over, only to whine when someone actually does something worthwhile.
Their specific task & purpose is to accustom the population to living in a police state
They have a purpose. It is to create fear. The actions of a tyrant.
Perhaps if that diaper wearing Tangerine-Tyrant would have gone to Vietnam instead of being such a coward chickening out with a fake illness, he could have served on such patrols down in the Delta and learned from it or never come back at all.
(RIP LER 1/15 Trans Bn, Dco, 1965-66.)
Unless your task and purpose is to normalize military policing in civilian domains, in which case…well, we’ll see?
Not to mention taking every NG soldier away from his/her family and job. There's no compensation great enough for that.
Anyone from an over-policed community could attest to this also. It’s ultimately seen as nothing more than intimidation and harassment. It would likely be great if one wanted to seed discontent in order to provide pretext for escalation.
And if taxpayer money
Right. Hope they brought their own piss pots. I maneuvered on the Mall for 2 weeks.
That’s critical.
On my first day on patrol this fellow let me use their camp toilet.
Headed back too. Heavier broomstick. Powered Bullhorn.
And the promoting of situations that are likely to lead to violence ... if I were just a tad more cynical, I would say it's a planned effort to create confrontations.
In fact, I would bet on it ... the maladministration is.
It’s Trump trying to intimidate American citizens into letting him continue his criminal activities.
And tax money
🚩🚩🚩 Coming to a “theater” near you, America. Real soon. 🚩🚩🚩
They have a purpose! In almost any coup, the first thing that you do is take control of the capital city. This gives the impression you control the country, and intimidates any opposition.
Seeking to foment a reaction that would warrant further overreach is my guess
Can recall exactly the same sentiment expressed on a UK officers' course in 1978!
And money too.
Presence patrols are for intimidation, they have nothing to do with keeping the peace. I'd wager that the resentment they cause does the opposite of keeping peace. Which could be the goal.
It’s so Donnie boy tho, don’t you agree? He wants people to feel pain and fear.
If only the Commander in Chief and SecDef had the same common sense.
It's fascism. Start calling shit what shit is. Thank you for your attention to this facism.
And our tax dollars. They’re prepping to make us fund our own political executions. They. Are. Nazis.
Intimidation is the objective. Normalize the abnormal.
I think their presence isn’t negative for the average person who’s been living safe productive life in DC with diminishing threat from criminals. I think some people, I would, find it intimidating.
And money
Hitler would have been nothing if he didn't have soldiers willing to do his hateful bidding.
The guardsmen participating in policing American citizens should hang their heads in shame.
It's shameful.
And no one is coming to save us.
Everyone has a choice. Lay down your weapons.
It DOES have a purpose ... it's to intimidate people into fearful obedience. King Trump likes his PEASANTS scared and compliant. American 'freedom' is an inconvenience that your KING will not tolerate and most of you rabble are to complacent to challenge him. ... aren't you?
Amen !!
Trump is once again trying to solve a nonexistent “ emergency” just to show he can create a problem out of thin air and then solve that same problem. It strokes his ego to tell people he solved the problem, even though he created it. Such a sad pathetic little man.
A failing distraction effort by this shit president etc
Trump definitely has a purpose for them.
Or are we all agreeing his words on purges and dictatorship were merely words.
It can’t be good for morale.
What's next? Firing squads? Public executions? Trump said this!
...worse than that. It's Threatening.
It is nit only waste of time . Our military including National Guard are loosing support and respect of the people they suppose to protect. I highly doubt it will help with recruitment.
I humbly suggest that the task and purpose is nothing more than to advance MAGA agitprop.
Not to mention that deployments are rough on families. All this for what?
But there is a specific task and purpose.
American wants to make a point by mentioning their "glorious" time in #iraq tells how far #usa has fallen
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
All he’s going to accomplish is turning the military against him.
Scares people. I’m scared. Bullies. Gona be escalations with untrained uniforms patrolling. Terrifying.
ʻBig Ballsʻ gets his *ss beat and this is how the ʻPOTUSʻ responds? What about the EPSTEIN FILES?
Has trump ever imagined that the invocation of the national guard might bite him in the ass?
And money!!
It’s so disrespectful to the DC guard.
Somebody's going to get killed.
Trump should pay out of his own pocket. Congress should say NO we won't pay for that as it's not needed if you want it, pay for it. You want that plane bribe, pay for it. The people SHOULD NOT PAY for this BS
It has a purpose. It's a mission. It's a 500-meter perimeter around the Epstein files.
We now have an entire army of domestic terrorist traitors..
Its literally just to antagonize and intimidate the ppl in the area they're occupying. Shits disgusting.
We have fires burning and flooding damage that needs reconstruction. Why aren't they helping with that? National Forest land is not getting fire mitigation done either. 😡
Trump and his morons keep trying to make everyone forget about Epstein Files
Waste of taxpayer dollars
Republican's love waste.
Because it's intended as a show of force.
Essentially another candy corn shart parade.
And the taxpayers money
From the leader's point of view it's not a complete waste of time, it is a step in shifting the Overton window.
Well, what else can we expect from a poser warrior Sec of Defense, and an addled-brained President, whose only concern is appearing to be the great and powerful Oz?
Troops and men (mis) used for optics, spectacle, not purpose.
We all understand that it's fear and intimidation #BullsOnParade
Time, effort and expertise . What military service members are trained in domestic law enforcement ? They didn’t sign up for this
I've always had the utmost respect for our veterans and military. My dad was WW2 Navy, my husband is a Navy vet. Our active duty has done gone and shit the bed. No respect at all, they deserve the spitting the Vietnam Vets got
In a free society, having people in military fatigues patrolling the streets is terrible optics. First it says that the local police have failed in their duties to protect citizens.
Seems like this could be a big Trump fuck up. When his enforcement is rubbing shoulders on the daily with the revolution, but generally NOT getting violently attacked... how long before they go from unwilling to unrest?
That the National Guard is obeying is inherently treasonous. Deploying the Guards against Americans is unconstitutional and accordingly obeying the regimes' orders places one on the side of Traitors. Treason is not absolved because one was ordered to commit it. The oath taken was created for 1/
Nothing good can come from such Missions .
“A presence patrol”, strikes me as nothing more than a raw display of power intended to intimidate and cow community members-in this case, the target is the citizens of Washington, D.C.
A disgraceful chapter for the U.S. military.
Totally agree General Hertling!
WHY AREN’T YOU AND EVERY 5 STAR GENERAL - FORMER WH EMPLOYEES GOING ON THE DAMN MSN AIRWAYS CALLING PEDOFELON47 ABUSE OF MILITARY?
Time for MILITARY TO SEND MESSAGE.. we work for AMERICA NOT TRUMP??? would you not agree....and GUARDS.. just state glorified cops... sorry but just rather lame.
Dear Members of the Military,
You can conscientiously object to his made-up, pretend, in-his-deranged-head, war on America.
Call 1-877-447-4487 or visit girightshotline.org
Are you in the military or thinking about joining? Are you unsure of where to get reliable answers? Call the GI Rights Hotline at 1-877-447-4487. Call for yourself or someone you care about Free and c...
Instigation patrols is likely more accurate.
Yup GOP = waste, fraud, abuse
Why weren't they sent to help TEXANS in the recent floods? California fires? Or most importantly!!! To the CAPITOL ON JAN6,2021
Intimidation tactics
In the US, the next step is the Christian Taliban telling you what you can and cannot do. Under them. Morality police.
There is an entity behind all this bloodshed in the Middle East. It is corporate, rather than representing the will of a nation or people.
And it controls what we see before us...
ALL: IT'S TIME to TALK DIRECTLY to MEMBERS of the NAT'L GUARD! TELL THEM
"DON'T FOLLOW ILLEGAL UNCONSTITUTIONAL ORDERS from a NAZI POTUS WHO the ENTIRE WORLD & our NATION KNOWS is BLATANTLY DEMENTIA-RIDDEN, a PATHOLOGICAL LIAR, SICK NARCISSIST, 'CHILD SEX TRAFFICKER' & an ENEMY COLLABORATOR!
And shows the American people that the military stands against them. The military will follow the orange dictator rather than the Constitution. You think the treatment of the military coming back from Vietnam was bad,wait until you see the repercussions from the military following a dictator.
All I’m seeing are troops deployed around national monuments, not actual crime areas. This entire exercise is another PedoPOTUS money pit, performative show to distract from the Epstein Files and the rapid dismantling of voting rights.
Pay attention, 2024 was the last free & fair election in U.S.
