by oldedude on June 9, 2025 9:24 am
So. The constitution gives ultimate authority of the militia to the President.

The "posse comitatus" act gives the governors the authority of their "states' militia."

When the President wants to activate the National Guard (Air or Army National Guard) for say, deployment to the Middle East, he goes through the National Guard Bureau (which has their manning documents, know the codes for deployment, etc), which go to the Governor's office.

If the governor needs the National Guard activated for wildfires, flood, hurricane, other natural or man-made disaster (including riots) they can do so. Kent State was one of those issues. Like I said FL and TX do it all the time.

IF the "insurrection act" is invoked, That changes most everything. If the governor agrees, fine, no issues.

Because the insurrection act is a presidential power that in this one case, over-rides posse comitatus, not only can the president activate the National Guard, but also the Reserve forces (all six services) and active-duty military, which a governor has no right to. So the remarks about activating Marines from Camp Pendleton or 29 stumps, is possible. The difference is proficiency. Medical, Intel, Engineers, ATC units etc are no issue. The issue is the ROE. Civilian LEA, v. Military. When cars start burning, buildings are next. When people get stoopid, the chances of someone getting hurt or killed escalates. That's a problem.

At times, using the National Guard is an excellent idea. They are locals, normally serving in their own state (or DC). They know the locals (if it's locals rioting, or in the natural disaster).