Chain of command (CoC). This seems to be misunderstood by a lot of people and ignored by others. It is also why the "military" did not move faster to intervene on 1/6.

Yes, the National Guard (Guard hereafter) should have moved earlier. Unfortunately, they lacked appropriate orders. Orders come through the chain of command and the DC National Guard has its own CoC separate from the regular military.

The DC Guard's COC starts with the President, then SECDEF, who has delegated command to the SECARMY and SecAF respectively.

More here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_of_Columbia_National_Guard

Why this matters: like the military, the Guard reports to the executive branch with a very short CoC. But many people with a great deal of authority in other situations have literally no ability to give any orders.

While Congress may set the budget, the military (regular or Guard) does not follow their orders. Our orders come down through the executive branch of the government only.

So, on the day of Republican/Q insurrection, when VP Pence ordered the Military to move, he actually had no authority to do so. Yes, other people should have given similar orders immediately. I am not going to argue this and it is not the point of this thread.

Now, some people are going on at great length about "how the military should have acted" meaning, without orders. Well, we just cannot do that. It is against the law, a violation of the UCMJ and one specific act of congress.

Specifically the Posse Comitatus Act: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posse_Comitatus_Act

As a rule, the military is not a civilian peace-keeping force. That being said, there are ways around this but they require things like the use of the Insurrection Act: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurrection_Act_of_1807

I am not making excuses for anything that happened that day. But I have seen people blaming the military, today in particular. But the minute we stop following orders and acting on our own we are terrorists.

Changes need to be made for the protection of the Capital. Hell, I know one person who was working there that day. But we must remain the military, not an armed mob.