Something the Media Never States about the National Guard

[Chasstev365]

Most of the members of the state's national guards are there because of limited economic opportunities, as opposed to an interest in being in the military. For many, being in the guard is their only ticket to a college education.

So not only were the Guardsmen and Guardswomen in DC for no reason thanks to Donald Trump; they were there because of being members of the working poor or slightly above that economic level. Sarah Beckstrom died for no real reason and she was only there because of the vast income inequality in the United States.

What a said commentary on American society.

[marble falls]

1. Poor economies for the middle and lower classes negate the need for a draft or mandatory service.

[OldBaldy1701E]

2. It has been this way for a very long time.

But, we as a nation don't seem interested in changing it, so...

[TommyT139]

3. Not only income inequality

Blue states aren't sending troops onto the streets of red states. There isn't one "National Guard" at the present time.

It's red-governed states supporting sending their troops illegally onto the streets of blue states and communities with higher percentages of people of color.

A war is already being waged. Lawsuits aren't going to stop this.

[karynnj]

24. VT governor Scott refused to send the VT Guard

and he is a Republican, who publicly did not vote for Trump. VTDigger
https://vtdigger.org
Phil Scott rejects Trump administration request to use Vermont national guard in ...

[FakeNoose]

4. This is especially true in the state of West Virginia

WV doesn't offer much established manufacturing or other job opportunities, sad to say. Coal mining is almost defunct, and for those who did work in the mines it was a slow ticket to disease and death. WV is surrounded by states with robust economies but they've never quite figured out how to do it for themselves. Young people growing up there quickly leave the state when they see opportunities in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and elsewhere. But some stay behind, and perhaps a stint in the Guard or the US Army looks like a good job to them.

[Hugin]

5. I wonder how much training they receive.

Considering the two who were shot had only been sworn in approximately 24 hours prior. The packing wrinkles hadn’t even fallen out of their uniforms.

[Gimpyknee]

25. Training wasn't an issue. Sarah Beckstrom had been a Guard member since June, 2023.

Last edited Sat Nov 29, 2025, 01:20 PM - Edit history (1)

She had re-upped her enlistment the day before she was shot.

[AZJonnie]

27. Ummm ... I could swear I read that she was 20 years old?

She wouldn't have been born yet in 2003

[Gimpyknee]

29. My mistake - 2023.

[popsdenver]

36. It was reported that

she was just recently sworn in..........for the first time........she was only 20 YO !!!!!!!!!!!

[Hugin]

30. I seriously doubt she had training for law enforcement in an urban environment. n/t

[popsdenver]

37. It is being reported that none

of the members of Nation Guard have Any law enforcement training in Urban matters, except learning how to rescue and aid people in a natural disaster..........

[JustAnotherGen]

7. Why would

Being deployed to a majority minority city in the United States look like a good job?

I'm thinking cultural conditioning.

[ShazzieB]

34. I'm sure nobody joins the NG expecting to end up playing cop in an American city!

For kids from a nowhere place with no opportunities, the Guard probably does look like good deal, or at least an eventual ticket out of a dead end. One of my nephews financed his college education that way. Unfortunately, he has turned out to be a RWNJ jerk, but I was proud of him at the time for having some ambition. Still am, even though he's done some things I hate since then.

[JustAnotherGen]

39. The young lady

Was upset that they couldn't do "anything".

[ShazzieB]

40. Okay?

Yeah, I know she said that, but I'm not sure what she meant or how it relates to my comment about how joining the NG or any branch of the military could look like a decent option to young folks from economically depressed states like WV.

From what I've read, though, it doesn't sound like the Guard is "getting to do" anything particularly meaningful or worthwhile in D.C. I mean, picking up trash is useful, but it's not something that requires fully armed National Guard troops to accomplish, and it's certainly not what any of them signed up for.

[JustAnotherGen]

6. The boyfriend

Of the woman who was killed said:

* She was happy to be there.
* She told him -'What's the point if we can't do anything?

The same clip he says people were throwing things at them, etc etc.

What PRECISELY did she want to do?

[Farmer-Rick]

13. She seemed onboard with keeping

The residents of DC under the thumb of pedo Trump. She wanted to be able to act as police to control DC residents.

She was one of those people who think pedo Trump sending troops to control Americans is perfectly fine. They buy into the propaganda spewed by corporate media, MAGA and Russia.At least that's how her bf made it sound.

[popsdenver]

38. I am sure that they were all being fed Republican propaganda

by all the FBI, ATF, ICE, and Secret Service agents patrolling the streets of DC with them.............

Trump put all of them there to protect DC which he is making into his personal fortress to protect himself, his CABAL, the Republicans in the U.S. Senate, House, and Supreme court in case of an uprising against them......
He saw what the 5,000 MAGA followers, that HE incited, did on J6th and feared the same thing can happen to the White House, Capitol, and USSC building by Dem protestors.....Except it wouldn't be just 5,000.
He is busy remodeling the White House to be Mar-A-Gago North, and plans on staying there many terms....

[haele]

20. She wanted a job with "meaning" as she knew it.

Ask why young people joined the National Guard after September 11th, or after pretty much any major national disaster?
Right Wing Media and politicians have created an environment where there's an appearance that big cities like DC are a hellscape inhabited with roving gangs of foreign criminals, violent homeless drug addicts, and sexual deviants; while terrified US citizens stay home desperate to protect few jobs, home, and children.
And she wanted a "respected" job that generally was helpful to her state during a natural disaster (when not being used as a political stunt) could get her a free education, some health care, and a chance for promotion and better pay if she stuck with it.
Whether or not she joined to help her state if there was a massive flooding or fire event, or if she joined for the benefits and training to supplement a lifelong job at the local Waffle House or Walmart and was otherwise okay with patrolling the "evil" streets of DC where it was obvious since the ballistic subway sandwich event that she and her comrades would be unwelcome - no reasoning is any sort of justification to exaggerate her part in the victim blaming.
After she joined, she was just a game piece -a NPC, if there's anyone to blame for her being in the wrong place at the wrong time, it's her Governor and the liar in Chief who ordered her presence.

(Yes, I'm assuming her only job options were Waffle House and Walmart; when I went to boot camp, most of the women from the Appalachian regions were faced with a future of marriage (or aging out at 27 after several serial marriages in one case) or a lifetime of low paid waitressing, bartending, or retail.)

[DownriverDem]

8. True today

but back in the 1960s and early 1970s it was a way to avoid VietNam.

[calimary]

9. Yep. That brings back memories.

[sop]

10. In George W's case it was a way to fly cool jets without being put in harm's way.

[niyad]

15. Unless your unit was activated.

[dflprincess]

17. Back then it was a legal way to draft dodge

And most Guard units had waiting lists. I knew a few people who took that route. All guys who supported the war but didn't think they should fight it.

[BH liberal]

11. I helped train the Kansas National Guard...

as an active duty artillery officer during the months leading up to my own orders to Vietnam. Elements of the Kansas Guard's 69th Brigade were deployed to Vietnam in 1968. My job as a Second Lieutenant fresh out of artillery school was to ready artillery battery personnel for close support of infantry units. What I quickly found out is that those guard enlisted men and officers were mostly too incompetent to successfully carry out their upcoming missions. And compounding this problem was a prevailing attitude that overseas deployment was "not what we signed up for". Too many had expected that their National Guard enlistment would shield them from seeing duty in combat zones.

The first battery that I took out for trials on the Fort Carson, Colorado firing range failed miserably. That would set the tone for what was to come in the following weeks. The unit leaders were given maps of the location to set up their guns and the coordinates of their assigned targets. The objective was for the battery personnel to correctly lay in the guns and put fire on those targets, mainly old tanks and other equipment placed out on the range. Our job as safety officers and supervisors was to check their work as they set up and prepared to fire. We were not to interfere if mistakes were made, unless those mistakes would endanger lives and property on the base.

To make a long story short, the battery set up 180 degrees out...in other words, they were preparing to fire in the opposite direction from their designated targets. We halted them as they prepared to fire, since their guns were aimed back at the base instead of down range. Naturally, their officers were embarrassed to no end. What's more, the fears of many of the Guard members that their meager training back in Kansas had not been adequate for what was to be expected of them in Vietnam. And we as trainers had too little time to work with them before they were to be deployed.

Later Army Reserve experience in training other states' Guard units during two summers after my own discharge from active duty confirmed the problems Guard members faced. These issues were systemic. Their training was inadequate. Fast forward to present day and our National Guard units are being pressed into service for other jobs for which they are not adequately trained...as law enforcement in this case. They are being misused...criminally...by the Trump Administration.

[niyad]

16. Your post is so important. Would you consider posting it as its own OP,

for wider visibility? Thanks in advance.

I was working at Ft. Carson that dreadful summer, and I was hearing some of the stories. I even encountered a few of the KS NG members. It was something of a sad surprise to see how young they looked. It made me cry, knowing what all of the soldiers were facing.

[BH liberal]

19. I am a newbie poster here and don't think I can start threads yet...

feel free to copy my text and post a thread.

[BH liberal]

23. Surprise, surprise...

They let me post a thread after all.

[AZJonnie]

28. It's possible the entry point may be 50 comments before starting a thread

I know there's some non-zero minimum limit. Welcome to the board

[niyad]

32. Minimum is 10.

[niyad]

31. Actually, you are not a newbie, having signed up in Jan. 2024, and have

some 55 posts. The minimum for starting an OP is 10.

[modrepub]

12. One Of Many Reasons

My father stayed in reserves because I think he genuinely liked serving in the military. He made his promotions, served his weekends, a managed to stay on until he got a pension.

No, he was never deployed, but he served in the 1970s and 1980s. Vietnam was not far off in the general public's mind so foreign entanglements we frowned upon. Reagan and Bush I basically broke that spell invading countries with little military prowess. Gulf War II was a minor speed bump.

We now seem OK deploying National Guard to provoke attacks from areas politically opposed to the administration in power. But so far the response, except those in line with this administration, seems to be far more muted. If our M$M can't seem to recognize what's going on, at least a good majority seems to understand.

I guess it remains to be seen if the active and reserve military personnel recognize they're basically being used by the elites of this country to intimidate the opposition.

[erronis]

18. I think our M$M does know what's going on - they just don't report it. Not their job - reporting the news...

Good post - thank you.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

14. Most members of the National Guard, as with the military as a whole, come from the working- and middle-classes.

[DallasNE]

21. That Begs The Question: Why Do we Have This Vast Income Inequality

Post Reagan has seen a constant lessening of the standard of living for a large block of Americans. Trickle down just doesn't work. A Supreme Court that favors capital over people makes it worse. And people are their own worst enemy when they fail to vote on pocketbook issues. The solution to these problems is not endless chaos. And it is not to take from the struggling, who wind up in the National Guard, and give it to the rich.

[cbabe]

22. Poverty draft. I know a couple who chose this route.

[The Roux Comes First]

26. We're Still Fighting the Tolerance for Slavery, Indentured Servitude, and Obscene Economic Stratification

That was baked-in prior to the Nation's founding.

[TomSlick]

33. I was in the Army Reserve, so my experience does not include the Guard.

Most of the members of the Army Reserve I encountered came from the working class. There were several who were doctors, lawyers, accountants, teachers, etc.

No one would serve without the pay and retirement but few would serve just for the pay and retirement. People serve because they want to serve the country.

[c-rational]

35. Well said. K&R