“A friend’s stepson has recently gotten out of the Marines. They came and got him; he has to be at the Inauguration as a guard, I assume. I wonder why they’re using inactive Marines? I guess he might be in the Reserves, possibly.”
When I was in the USAF (1970-1974), when we separated (i.e., when our 4-year enlistment was up, and we left active service) we were still on a 2-year “inactive reserve” status, and the formal discharge did not come until that period had passed. I assume that is still the way things are now.
In a perfect world these troops would be in place to arrest every member of the House and Senate, and everyone in the FBI, DOJ, CIA, DHS.
The answer to the “how can they do that?” question makes perfect sense. It’s the “Why are they calling up Inactive Reserves?” question that’s intriguing.