Okay, call out the National Guard, we can hear the echoing across our living rooms, in our cars and during breaks at work. But what does that cost and more importantly what does it do to the weekend warriors that aren’t trained for civil disorder or prepared financially to be forced to leave their paying employment so Trump can beat his chest and scream he saved us all, Yes, saved us from another overblown or made up crisis.
1. Cost to Guardsmen
A. Personal Income & Career Impact
Many Guardsmen are part-time reservists and also work civilian jobs.
When called to active duty, they may lose pay from their civilian employers if it isn’t fully covered. The federal law USERRA protects jobs, but gaps in pay and benefits can still occur.
For longer deployments, career projects, side hustles, or family responsibilities can suffer.
B. Stress & Mental Health
Sudden activation to a politically charged situation (like a presidential order) can cause stress and moral dilemmas, especially if the orders conflict with their personal beliefs.
Deployments can disrupt family life and schooling for their children.
C. Physical Risk
Guardsmen are trained, but they are often not equipped or trained for full-scale combat or civil unrest policing at the same level as active-duty soldiers.
Exposure to rioting, tear gas, or physical confrontations carries real risk.
2. Cost to Taxpayers / Public
A. Direct Financial Cost
Pay & benefits for Guardsmen during activation come from federal or state budgets. This includes base pay, hazard pay, travel, and per diem.
Activation costs include transportation, housing, equipment, fuel, and logistical support — often millions for large-scale operations.
B. Opportunity Cost
When Guardsmen are deployed, they are unavailable for their usual missions: disaster relief, local emergencies, and community support.
Local services may be understaffed, slowing responses to fires, floods, or other emergencies.
C. Political / Social Cost
Deploying troops for political purposes can undermine public trust in the Guard’s neutrality.
Using part-time citizen-soldiers in domestic political maneuvers can affect morale and recruitment long-term.
Example: Washington, D.C. (Jan 6, 2021 & other activations)
Guard troops were activated with little notice, often sleeping in parking garages or unheated gyms, sometimes for weeks.
Costs ran into tens of millions of dollars for housing, meals, and pay.
Many Guardsmen reported stress, PTSD symptoms, and resentment over being caught in politically charged deployments.
Bottom line: When Trump or any politician calls out the National Guard, the burden isn’t abstract — it hits individual soldiers, their families, local communities, and taxpayers. The part-time nature of the Guard amplifies these costs because they are not career combat troops; they are civilians asked to drop everything for politically motivated missions.
So, for concise recap:
The Hidden Cost of Calling Out the National Guard
Who They Are:
Part-time citizen-soldiers with civilian jobs, families, and responsibilities.
Not full-time combat troops — often under-equipped for large-scale civil unrest.
Cost to Guardsmen:
Income & Career: Potential loss of civilian pay or disruption of work.
Family & Life: Missed time with children, disrupted routines, and personal stress.
Physical & Mental Risk: Exposure to unrest, injury, and long-term stress/PTSD.
Cost to Taxpayers:
Financial: Base pay, hazard pay, per diem, housing, transport — millions per activation.
Opportunity: Guards unavailable for fires, floods, and disaster response.
Political / Social: Morale and recruitment take a hit; public trust erodes.
Example: Washington, D.C. (Jan 6, 2021)
Guardsmen slept in gyms and parking garages, deployed under stressful conditions for weeks.
Deployment cost tens of millions; personal and community disruption was immense.
Bottom Line: Calling out the National Guard isn’t abstract theater. It’s a real burden on people, families, communities, and taxpayers, amplified when used for politically motivated missions rather than true emergencies.
During the January 2021 inauguration of President Joe Biden, thousands of National Guard troops were deployed to Washington, D.C., to provide security following the January 6 Capitol breach.Initially, many Guardsmen were housed within the Capitol complex itself, including the Capitol Visitor Center and other areas, where they rested between shifts.However, shortly after the inauguration, these troops were ordered to vacate the Capitol and were relocated to a nearby parking garage.Reports indicated that the garage lacked adequate facilities, with only one electrical outlet and two bathrooms for thousands of soldiers, leading to widespread criticism.
After bipartisan outrage from lawmakers, the Guardsmen were allowed to return to the Capitol complex and were provided with better accommodations.Some were also allowed to rest in nearby hotels.These events highlighted concerns about the treatment and conditions faced by National Guard members during domestic deployments.
In ending, Guardsmen are not full time soldiers, they are not trained for insurrection and most importantly, they are forced to make their friends and neighbors the enemy.
The Hidden Cost of Calling Out the National Guard
Okay, call out the National Guard, we can hear the echoing across our living rooms, in our cars and during breaks at work. But what does that cost and more importantly what does it do to the weekend warriors that aren’t trained for civil disorder or prepared financially to be forced to leave their paying employment so Trump can beat his chest and scream he saved us all, Yes, saved us from another overblown or made up crisis.
1. Cost to Guardsmen
A. Personal Income & Career Impact
Many Guardsmen are part-time reservists and also work civilian jobs.
When called to active duty, they may lose pay from their civilian employers if it isn’t fully covered. The federal law USERRA protects jobs, but gaps in pay and benefits can still occur.
For longer deployments, career projects, side hustles, or family responsibilities can suffer.
B. Stress & Mental Health
Sudden activation to a politically charged situation (like a presidential order) can cause stress and moral dilemmas, especially if the orders conflict with their personal beliefs.
Deployments can disrupt family life and schooling for their children.
C. Physical Risk
Guardsmen are trained, but they are often not equipped or trained for full-scale combat or civil unrest policing at the same level as active-duty soldiers.
Exposure to rioting, tear gas, or physical confrontations carries real risk.
2. Cost to Taxpayers / Public
A. Direct Financial Cost
Pay & benefits for Guardsmen during activation come from federal or state budgets. This includes base pay, hazard pay, travel, and per diem.
Activation costs include transportation, housing, equipment, fuel, and logistical support — often millions for large-scale operations.
B. Opportunity Cost
When Guardsmen are deployed, they are unavailable for their usual missions: disaster relief, local emergencies, and community support.
Local services may be understaffed, slowing responses to fires, floods, or other emergencies.
C. Political / Social Cost
Deploying troops for political purposes can undermine public trust in the Guard’s neutrality.
Using part-time citizen-soldiers in domestic political maneuvers can affect morale and recruitment long-term.
Example: Washington, D.C. (Jan 6, 2021 & other activations)
Guard troops were activated with little notice, often sleeping in parking garages or unheated gyms, sometimes for weeks.
Costs ran into tens of millions of dollars for housing, meals, and pay.
Many Guardsmen reported stress, PTSD symptoms, and resentment over being caught in politically charged deployments.
Bottom line: When Trump or any politician calls out the National Guard, the burden isn’t abstract — it hits individual soldiers, their families, local communities, and taxpayers. The part-time nature of the Guard amplifies these costs because they are not career combat troops; they are civilians asked to drop everything for politically motivated missions.
So, for concise recap:
The Hidden Cost of Calling Out the National Guard
Who They Are:
Part-time citizen-soldiers with civilian jobs, families, and responsibilities.
Not full-time combat troops — often under-equipped for large-scale civil unrest.
Cost to Guardsmen:
Income & Career: Potential loss of civilian pay or disruption of work.
Family & Life: Missed time with children, disrupted routines, and personal stress.
Physical & Mental Risk: Exposure to unrest, injury, and long-term stress/PTSD.
Cost to Taxpayers:
Financial: Base pay, hazard pay, per diem, housing, transport — millions per activation.
Opportunity: Guards unavailable for fires, floods, and disaster response.
Political / Social: Morale and recruitment take a hit; public trust erodes.
Example: Washington, D.C. (Jan 6, 2021)
Guardsmen slept in gyms and parking garages, deployed under stressful conditions for weeks.
Deployment cost tens of millions; personal and community disruption was immense.
Bottom Line:
Calling out the National Guard isn’t abstract theater. It’s a real burden on people, families, communities, and taxpayers, amplified when used for politically motivated missions rather than true emergencies.
During the January 2021 inauguration of President Joe Biden, thousands of National Guard troops were deployed to Washington, D.C., to provide security following the January 6 Capitol breach. Initially, many Guardsmen were housed within the Capitol complex itself, including the Capitol Visitor Center and other areas, where they rested between shifts. However, shortly after the inauguration, these troops were ordered to vacate the Capitol and were relocated to a nearby parking garage. Reports indicated that the garage lacked adequate facilities, with only one electrical outlet and two bathrooms for thousands of soldiers, leading to widespread criticism.
After bipartisan outrage from lawmakers, the Guardsmen were allowed to return to the Capitol complex and were provided with better accommodations. Some were also allowed to rest in nearby hotels. These events highlighted concerns about the treatment and conditions faced by National Guard members during domestic deployments.
In ending, Guardsmen are not full time soldiers, they are not trained for insurrection and most importantly, they are forced to make their friends and neighbors the enemy.
But if it makes potus feel the mostus, go for it.
Putz, oops, did I say that?
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