Members of Count Every Hero joined other retired general and flag officers to send a letter to the Senate Armed Services Committee highlighting the threats politicized domestic deployments pose to our military, public safety, and our national security.
Washington DC – Twenty-seven former service secretaries and retired general and flag officers—including members of Count Every Hero—expressed their concern over the recent and attempted deployments of the National Guard in the absence of demonstrated need and in opposition to the wishes of local elected officials.
In the letter, the former leaders highlighted the federal laws that exist to minimize the harms these deployments cause, specifically citing the Posse Comitatus Act and the stringent limits it imposes on the military and their ability to operate in the United States, “including a presumptive prohibition on domestic policing unless doing so is expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress.”
The longstanding history and “traditional and strong resistance of Americans to any military intrusion into civilian affairs,” runs counter to the recent rise in domestic deployments, undermining the expectation that “troops should only be deployed in situations where there is a clear and urgent need that cannot be satisfied by law enforcement.” The leaders noted that no such need exists and that the strict limitations of the domestic deployment of the military remain important to maintaining that standard.
Read the letter here.