OPINION: Protecting What We Defend
A veteran’s and police family perspective on deploying the National Guard.
By Phil Huber
GUEST WRITER
America faces troubling times—a darkness settling in, as Donnie Johnston bluntly observed in his recent piece, “It’s Getting Darker in America.” The light of liberty dims when power is abused, and constitutional boundaries are ignored. What we accept at our kitchen tables soon shapes our daily realities and our future as a nation.
As someone who spent 30 years in uniform—on active duty, in the Alabama National Guard, and Army Reserve—I understand the meaning of service and sacrifice. My journey saw combat in Vietnam, activation as a reservist for deployments in Kuwait and Bosnia, and a Pentagon stint supporting Haiti operations. I am proud to say my service is matched by my family’s deep roots in local policing: my grandfather, three uncles, and now nephews and distant cousins have all served or continue to serve as police officers in their communities.
I write not as a conservative, but as a moderate Democrat, a veteran, and a member of a policing family who cares deeply about public safety, the role of law enforcement, and the traditions that anchor this nation.
Throughout my career, I witnessed the critical distinction between military and police responsibilities. The National Guard is a citizen force—neighbors who defend us from disaster and threat, not soldiers trained for day-to-day law enforcement. The line between military and civilian authority is the bedrock of our constitutional order.
Current calls to deploy Guard troops in Washington, D.C., and other cities, often without the request or consent of local police and elected leaders, give me deep pause. Polling shows most Americans outside the Republican base feel the same way, and for good reason. Military leaders, police unions, and legal experts warn that using the Guard for policing risks morale, public trust, and even readiness in the face of true emergencies.
Johnston’s words cut to the heart of what is at stake. Arbitrary rule and intimidation, executive overreach, and normalization of force undermine our freedom and safety. Recent months have brought rising costs, attacks on press freedom, and the partisan weaponization of institutions that should unite us. The “dark ages” he describes aren’t just metaphors—they’re a warning about real consequences for everyday Americans.
Like many Republicans, I value order and decisive action when things genuinely fall apart. But as someone who prepared to stand watch on American streets after natural disasters—and as the relative of men and women who have patrolled our local neighborhoods—I know the success of policing depends on trust, local knowledge, and legitimacy. Bringing in military forces where police are trained and equipped to serve isn’t just unnecessary—it can damage those vital bonds and make everyone less safe.
Governor Youngkin’s decision to mobilize 60 Virginia National Guard members under Title 32 for “administrative and logistics support” to ICE is being sold as a routine, temporary measure. But it is anything but routine. Supporters insist this current Guard deployment is minor: just a few weeks on active duty, purely administrative, no arrests or patrols, and no direct role in enforcement. But that’s a red herring. The reality is this operation sets the stage and legal precedent for Virginia to later deploy the National Guard in direct law enforcement roles—potentially even to patrol our streets. What looks neutral today could easily become extraordinary tomorrow.
Virginia’s security depends on defending the constitutional lines between military and police authority. Let’s keep the Guard reserved for disaster response, not domestic law enforcement. If we fail, the “minor” Youngkin deployment will be remembered not for its modest assistance to ICE, but as the precedent that invited military policing onto the streets of the Commonwealth.
We ask much from the Guard and even more from our police. Let's not blur the lines and risk the institutional damage that can come from politicizing these vital functions. I have faith that Americans and Virgina’s can have a tough conversation about keeping our cities safe—without losing sight of the constitutional, professional, and personal boundaries that have protected both our freedoms and our security for generations.
Let’s choose constitutional order over political expedience, and ensure the Guard remains a symbol of emergency relief—not everyday law enforcement. Let’s keep the Guard reserved for the truly extraordinary so that when that call comes—no matter our politics—every American will stand ready and proud behind them, just as we always have for those who wear the shield close to home.
James P. Huber — Colonel, U.S. Army Reserves (Ret.) — lives in Fredericksburg.
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Absolutely.
Thank you Sir, for your service and your thoughts.
We govern with the consent of the govern, as guardians, not as occupiers.
Citizens in cities Republicans don't like are still citizens. Entitled to the same rights and respect.
They seem to have forgotten that, and it is more than one man.
Trump could not do it without enablers like Youngkin, Miyares, and all of the everyday Republicans sitting idly by as our civil liberties are attacked. It doesn't happen without them.
And it's odd to me, that having campaigned on and using illegal immigrants as the justification for these occupations - to wonder why they are only deployed in Democratic strongholds?
If the main people demanding this action is Republicans, shouldn't they be looking to destroy the economies and punish "evildoers" in their cities and states? Shouldn't they be occupying Dallas and Phoenix first? That's where the fear is highest.
And if it is for crime, shouldn't they be in Speaker Johnson's Shreveport, LA or Josh Hawley's St Louis, Missouri or Tommy Tuberville's Birmingham, Alabama? They all have a higher murder rate than DC. Birmingham's is more than double, the worst in the nation. Why not go there?
And admittedly, DC is a special case, in that this Republican Congress has so much control of that unrepresented city. And yet, they spend millions, and ask the citizens of Virginia to spend additional millions to send the Guard to that poor, benighted city; at the same time they deny it funds they've long requested to hire more police officers.
Pennywise and pound foolish, all in the name of theatre.
That's what the Republican party, and those foolish enough to have bought their lies got, and are getting, when they chose someone versed in reality TV rather than reality to lead them.
As horrible as all of this is, and it is, America deserves it. We as a nation openly chose such morally, mentally, and ethically corrupt leadership - despite seeing the damage that such a choice could cause. We have no one to blame but ourselves.
No one. Though I'm sure that many will try. Because I fear this is merely the beginning of our troubles, not the last. We've got a long way to go. It's only been 9 months, and many of the financial aspects of this horror are just settling in.
Though the Biden economy had mainly been booming for those on the rich half of the inequality gap, it was booming, especially when compared to the other economies coming out of the pandemic. It's takes a while to start something as big as the American economy, it takes it a while to stop.
But have no doubt, it's slowing. The only question is how much, and for how long. But with someone who's instability and thirst for revenge only waxes greater with every successsful persecution of his "enemies", and whose primary acumen beyond personal greed and corruption has been bankruptcy - I fear we are about to find out what happens when the world justifiably no longer has full faith in, nor is willing to extend credit to this nation due to Republican's actions.
We've already lost our AAA bond rating from all three main rating services due to the latest budget passed by them.
Which has resulted in billions of additional costs to serve our trillions in debt.
With the only significant additional revenue stream being taxes on the poorest (tariffs) that affect things as diverse as windmills to coffee beans - with the rates changing daily based upon whims of a madman.
Hardly a good environment for honest business to thrive.
Anyway, I digress, I know. Again, thank you for so clearly addressing the concerns of this one issue in this cult's madness. I hope such wisdom is followed. We would all be better off
Though it is but one of many catastrophes that has been caused by the petty, entitled, overly sensitive tyrants that now presume to rule us.
With one law for them, and another for the rest of us.
With us all suffering as a result.
Sad times.