This paper examines how the growing military presence in Mexican civilian life impacts democratic values and processes. Over the past two decades, the Mexican government has expanded the military’s role to include distributing social welfare, safeguarding elections, and patrolling streets. We argue that increased exposure to the military normalizes its presence and boosts support for its involvement in civilian domains. Using a survey experiment embedded in a nationally representative sample of Mexicans, we measure how exposure to images of military personnel in civilian roles shapes public attitudes. Our findings reveal that priming respondents with pictures of the military safeguarding ballot transportation, patrolling streets, and providing social welfare significantly increases support for their presence inside and outside polling stations during elections and increases respondents’ overall trust in the military. Viewing multiple images of these activities, compared to a single image, further amplifies support for military oversight of elections. Finally, exposure to the military providing social welfare raises approval for their involvement in other traditionally civilian domains, such as public works, operating ports, and education. These findings highlight an overlooked mechanism in the militarization of public life: habituation through normalized exposure, underscoring the potential risks of expanding military roles in civilian governance.