A top US military official has ordered the national guards of all 50 US states, the District of Columbia and US territories to form “quick reaction forces” trained in “riot control”, including use of batons, body shields, Tasers and pepper spray, according to an internal Pentagon directive reviewed by the Guardian.

The memo, signed on 8 October by Maj Gen Ronald Burkett, the director of operations for the Pentagon’s national guard bureau, sets thresholds for the size of the quick reaction force to be trained in each state, with most states required to train 500 national guard members, for a total of 23,500 troops nationwide.

As if the federal government can dictate to the states what to do with their national guard absent a federal emergency disaster relief effort (read as federal dollars flowing into the state for disaster money). Until then, they remain in the states’ control. The pentagon taking over riot control is an overstep of police powers that are reserved to the states via the 10th Amendment. Additionally:

There’s a reason you separate military and the police. One fights the enemies of the state. The other serves and protects the people. When the military becomes both, then the enemies of the state tend to become the people.

• Commander William Adama (BSG)