Now, the same is being asked of troops deployed at home. If the global war on terror should have taught Washington anything, it’s that U.S. troops are trained to fight wars and, in the case of the National Guard, to handle fleeting emergencies, not to impose order on complex societies. And the United States is as complex a society as any. Soldiers cannot rebuild communities at home any more than they can remake nations abroad.

For two decades of the global war on terror, U.S. troops were tasked with missions far beyond their training. In Iraq and Afghanistan, infantry units became de facto police, conventional soldiers trained local forces, and junior officers were sent to mediate local disputes in societies that they barely understood. Most infamously, they were told to win the “ hearts and minds ” of communities that did not want them there. Their uniforms and armored vehicles, meant to project strength, instead became barriers to the very goals that they were assigned.

For two decades of the global war on terror, U.S. troops were tasked with missions far beyond their training. In Iraq and Afghanistan, infantry units became de facto police, conventional soldiers trained local forces, and junior officers were sent to mediate local disputes in societies that they barely understood. Most infamously, they were told to win the “hearts and minds” of communities that did not want them there. Their uniforms and armored vehicles, meant to project strength, instead became barriers to the very goals