What's the real difference between the government stationing armed soldiers in your town to maintain the peace, and stationing armed police in your town to maintain the peace? The former became unfashionable so it was replaced with the later. Such soldiers were renamed for "PR" but the situation is functionally equivalent. Officially there are some differences, like police being accountable to civilian courts instead of military courts... but I think it is now generally acknowledged that civilian courts have a double standard for police. So this distinction is more theoretical than practical.
In my view, it's fair to consider anybody who carries a gun for the state as a soldier, in an informal sense.
In my view, it's fair to consider anybody who carries a gun for the state as a soldier, in an informal sense.