A little-known federal program has quietly bound state National Guard units to foreign militaries, and Arizona's partner nation is now one Trump is threatening to attack — bad news for the troops caught in the middle.

• Arizona's Guard signed a defense partnership with Oman in 2023 that the state legislature never voted on and the Senate never ratified.
• Trump has since threatened to bomb Oman over its role in the Iran talks, meaning Arizona airmen could be attacking a force they train alongside.
• These deals exist nationwide — over 115 of them — and only the Secretaries of Defense and State have to sign off, with Congress getting notice but no vote.
• Guard units now carry a huge share of the military's airlift and refueling work, so long overseas rotations have become normal rather than rare.
• A push called Defend the Guard would block states from releasing their Guard into combat without a declared war; it has passed one chamber in Arizona, New Hampshire, and Idaho but keeps stalling.

Outlook: Expect more state-level fights over Guard deployments as Middle East rotations drag on with no end date.