Gary W.

Trott
65 Robert St Apt 6
PO Box 218
West Warwick, RI 02893
(401) 823-7604
gary.trott@verizon.net

December 31, 2010

Governor Lincoln D. Chafee

Office of the Governor
State House Room 115
Providence, RI 02903-1121

Dear Governor Chafee,

I first want to congratulate you on being elected as our new governor. I know that as our Senator
you were opposed to our continued military presence in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere.
Because of that I’m writing to ask that you assert your legal authority as governor to demand that
the members of the RI National Guard who are serving overseas be immediately returned to
Rhode Island. The following outlines my reasons for believing that this is not only in your power
to do so, but it is your duty as governor to do so.

USC 10, § 311. Militia: composition and classes, states that:

“(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age
and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have
made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of
the United States who are members of the National Guard.
(b) The classes of the militia are—
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia;”

The Constitution of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations states in Article IX,
Section 3., “The governor shall be captain general and commander in chief of the military and
naval forces of this state, except when they shall be called into the service of the United States.”

The Constitution of The United States of America states in Article I, Section 8. that Congress
shall have the power, “To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union,
suppress insurrections and repel invasions;”

The Constitution of The United States of America states in Article II, Section 2. that the
President, “shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the
militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States;”
As you can see from the above, members of our National Guard, both male and female, are
members of the militia and under your command except when called into the service of the
United States. I’m also sure that after reading the above cites, you will agree with me that the
conditions for calling forth the militia above are not being met with our involvements in
Afghanistan, Iraq, deployments under the auspices of the United Nations, other groups, or
unilaterally by the United States of America. If the conditions for calling forth the militia are not
being met, then the President doesn’t have the constitutional authority to command the militia at
all, let alone deploy it to foreign lands. As Governor you are the person who has the authority.

As Governor it is your duty to demand that the federal government obey our law and our
Constitution by returning the members of our National Guard to Rhode Island immediately. You
have the authority to make this demand both in your position as Governor, and also under
Amendment X of the Constitution of the United States of America which reads:

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the
states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.”

Since the power of Congress to call forth our National Guard is restricted to executing the laws
of the union, suppressing insurrections and repelling invasions, and the power of the President to
command them is dependent upon the power of Congress, the federal government didn’t have the
power to deploy them. It falls back to Amendment X denying them that power and it’s up to you
to enforce the power that has been reserved to the State of Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations. Please uphold our Constitution and bring them home.

Thank you for your time and consideration of my request.

Yours truly,

Gary W. Trott