The National Guard is developing a “quick reaction force” of troops trained in crowd control and civil disturbance that can be ready to deploy to U.S. cities by January, according to a leaked memo viewed by Task & Purpose.

All 50 states, Puerto Rico and Guam will have their own quick reaction force, or QRF. The National Guard Bureau memos show that most states will have 500 troops assigned to these units, except for those with smaller populations like Delaware, which will have 250 troops in its QRF, Alaska with 350, and Guam with 100 troops. The Washington, D.C. National Guard is directed to maintain a “specialized” military police battalion with 50 National Guard soldiers on active duty orders.

A National Guard spokesperson told Task & Purpose that the bureau is coordinating with the secretary of defense, all U.S. states, territories, and the District of Columbia, “in planning that will implement the direction” President Donald Trump laid out in an Aug. 25 Executive Order.

According to the spokesperson, who spoke with Task & Purpose under the condition their name not be used, that executive order directed the secretary of defense to ensure that each state “designate an appropriate number” of trained National Guard troops “to be reasonably available for rapid mobilization” to assist federal, state, and local law enforcement in “quelling civil disturbances and ensuring the public safety and order whenever the circumstances necessitate, as appropriate under law.” 

“We’ve never had a National Guard quick reaction force before, so this is a completely new unit,” a National Guardsman familiar with the plans told Task & Purpose. 

The Guardsman said the QRFs are different for the Guard, which is typically deployed at a moment’s notice for national disaster response or to assist law enforcement. 

“This is different because we’re essentially establishing a unit for space to respond to civilian activities,” they said. “We are ready to go when we’re called upon. We’re not asked to stand up an entire unit ready to quell dissent at any moment.”

The states are directed to use the “Interservice Nonlethal Individual Weapons Instructor Course.” They will also provide “Level I” and “Level II” civil disturbance training, which includes courses on de-escalation of force techniques, crowd control, handheld radio communications, proper use of body shields, batons and tasers, pepper spray, and public safety, according to the memos.

The guardsman, who previously mobilized for a mission to assist law enforcement, said the gear and training that the QRF forces are getting is “taking it up a level.”

“It gets into like what you would need for hasty checkpoints and for detainee operations and the training that they’re going to have is much more extensive than what we’re generally doing when we’re training to assist civilian authorities,” they said.

The National Guard Bureau will give each state 100 sets of crowd control equipment and provide two full-time Guardsmen on active duty orders to manage training, equipping, and response. Commanders are directed to provide monthly updates on their unit’s training, personnel and equipment status in an online defense readiness reporting system, according to the memo.

The goal is to have the National Guard quick reaction forces operational by Jan. 1, with units setting aside an additional five days of training. The memo states that five-day courses are available in October, November and December.

The Guardsman said the QRFs will use volunteer National Guard troops, but said they think it’s likely that others will be “voluntold” to join the mission “if enough people don’t volunteer.”

When asked about the plans earlier this month, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said he would not comment on “particulars,” but said the U.S. has “multiple layers of National Guard response forces.”

“We’ve got a lot of different ways that, constitutionally and legally, we can employ title 10 and title 32 forces, and we will do so when necessary,” Hegseth added.

Are you a member of the National Guard who’s recently been mobilized? We’d like to hear from you.

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