Statement of Principles highlights the need for preparedness, readiness, and public trust when deploying the National Guard on U.S. soil

Washington, DC — Count Every Hero’s National Guard Working Group has issued a Statement of Principles on Domestic Deployment of the National Guard — a set of guidelines designed to ensure that domestic Guard deployments are lawful, limited, and legitimate.  

Led by Count Every Hero member and former National Guard Bureau chief General (Ret.) Craig McKinley, and former National Guard Bureau Chief General (Ret.) Joseph Lengyel, Count Every Hero’s National Guard Working Group includes former Adjutant Generals and other state and federal civilian and military leaders. The group is committed to supporting elected officials, National Guard leaders, and others in keeping the National Guard a strong, ready, and trusted military force in the service of all Americans.

In their Statement of Principles, the working group members clearly articulate that deployment of the National Guard within the United States must be grounded in law, strictly limited in scope, and carefully scrutinized to preserve the foundational norm of civilian control of a nonpartisan military. The Principles warn against the growing trend of nontraditional and politicized domestic deployments that risk undermining the Guard’s credibility, readiness, and ability to respond to genuine emergencies.

“We believe that it is vital that [the Guard] be adequately prepared for missions, they maintain their readiness for military operations, and that their assigned missions should never put the public trust or the reputation of the men and women of the National Guard at issue,” the authors write.

The Principles are intended to help elected officials, Guard commanders, and the public in evaluating whether a domestic Guard mission is appropriate. They emphasize three core areas of concern:

Mission Preparedness

  • The National Guard should only be deployed when units are fully trained, equipped, and supported, with a clearly defined mission, timeline, chain of command, and rules of engagement.
  • Deployments should support — not substitute — local first responders, and Guard members should operate in cohesive units to maintain effectiveness.

Overall Readiness

  • The Guard should be used only as a last resort, to preserve its capacity for true emergencies and avoid member burnout, recruitment challenges, and retention strain.
  • Whenever possible, domestic missions should align with the Guard’s core competencies to reinforce operational readiness rather than divert from it.

Public Trust

  • The Guard must remain strictly apolitical. Deployments must not advance partisan goals or occur amid political controversy, especially near elections.
  • Guard deployments should not conflict with lawful authorities, should avoid escalation, and should never be funded by private entities to protect the Guard’s integrity and credibility with the American public.

The Principles also warn that attempts to misuse or politicize the National Guard or active-duty forces could erode public faith in democratic institutions or the electoral process itself.

At a moment when the line between civil governance and military force must remain clear, these Principles offer a blueprint for preserving the integrity of one of America’s most trusted institutions. Their message is simple but urgent: the National Guard is not a political tool — and must never be used as one.

Read the full Statement of Principles here.