“It should worry people, and it does worry people, when you see a default to the military rather than trying more local or domestic organizations,” said Carrie A. Lee, an expert on civil-military affairs…

Peter Feaver, a political science professor at Duke University, said the president had framed his response to the protest as linked to maintaining order. But military leaders were additionally concerned with another set of values, including responding to racial tensions and signaling a commitment to respecting civil liberties, he said.

“The mistake for the White House is asking the military to choose between those two,” Feaver said.

One former senior officer said many current and former officers were “appalled” by the recent events. “They’ve never seen anything like it,” he said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter candidly. “We didn’t join the military to kill our fellow citizens.”