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“Frankly, this is not a ‘combat zone’ so combat conditions should not apply,” said member of the Washington Field Guard who has twice deployed to Afghanistan. .
Several National Guard units have seen their deployments unintentionally expand, although the majority of guards remaining in Washington do so on a voluntary basis. About 7,000 troops will continue to provide riot security until early February, with that number declining slightly to 5,000 by the time Trump’s impeachment trial begins.
“We are no longer going to allow any surprises,” said a member of the Guard, referring to the widespread lack of preparation for the January 6 insurgency.
Also of concern is the potential unrest surrounding March 4, when some QAnon conspiracy theorists believe Trump will be inaugurated for the second time.
A spokeswoman for the Capitol Police did not respond to a request for comment.
National Guard troops were deployed to the capital following the January 6 riots on Capitol Hill, when Trump supporters stormed the building as Congress certified President Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory. The House impeached Trump a week later, accusing him of “willful incitement to insurgency.”
On the day of the inauguration, approximately 25,000 troops were in Washington, where unprecedented security measures were put in place to prevent similar attacks.
Now, thousands of Guard members will be staying in Washington for much longer than they originally anticipated when they packed their bags for what they believed to be a short-term mission on Jan.6. The base has so far received no official. justifications, reports of threats or any explanation for the extended mission, said two members of the Guard – and they haven’t seen violence so far either.
“There is no defined situation, no mission statement… It is very unusual for any military mission,” said one member, who has deployed twice to Afghanistan. “We’re usually given a situation, with defined mission scopes, and at least a tentative plan for how to execute those goals.”
“Some don’t even know how long they will be staying here,” said another member of the Guard.
A Fourth Guard member confirmed that troops had not been made aware of any specific threats, but rather that federal authorities were concerned about the possibility of continuing unrest. Far-right militias remain the main source of concern, he said.
Morale is low among the troops, who described having to stand guard for hours at a time at full speed with limited access to food and water, waiting hours to be transported to and from their hotels and very little sleep. Many wash cold-weather socks and underwear in hotel sinks because they don’t have access to a laundry room.
Some have been forced to buy their own food out of pocket to supplement the scarce meals provided to them, which do not provide enough calories to endure long days. Even ready-to-eat meals are hard to come by due to logistics and transportation issues.
“Even though they all arrive on time, the calories just aren’t there for the amount of work we do and the time we spend standing, in the cold, at full speed,” a member said. the guard.
The vast majority of the guards are not full-time soldiers but also hold civilian jobs. Many are law enforcement officers, firefighters and small business workers whose families struggle to juggle bills and childcare during the pandemic. For many, the DC deployment means losing weeks of higher pay in their civilian jobs.
One of the Guards, who deployed to the Middle East, described “extremely austere conditions” and compared the DC mission to “invasion operations”.
“We basically invaded and occupied a city,” the person said. “It was certainly an experience that I never expected to live in an American city, let alone in the capital.
Trump has not commented publicly since he left office four days ago, but he has assembled his defense team for the upcoming trial. If the former president urges his supporters to protest on his behalf, it could seriously drain law enforcement resources. Already, officials have set up a perimeter around the Capitol using 10-foot barricades with razor wire.
Renewed security concerns come amid heightened tensions between Capitol Police and the National Guard. Last week, Capitol Police officials forced troops out of congressional offices, where they took breaks during their shifts that often lasted 12 or 14 hours. POLITICO first reported that around 5,000 troops were crammed into a parking lot on the Senate side of the Capitol, with temperatures dropping as the sun set.
The move sparked outrage from lawmakers on both sides, many of whom intervened with police officials at Capitol Hill. The guards were finally allowed to go inside.
Additionally, the National Guard has struggled to contain Covid-19, without a clear testing regime, and some troops have been forced to break their quarantines. At least 200 guards have tested positive for Covid-19, and several hundred more soldiers are in quarantine due to the exposure.
Worsened problems for the National Guard have prompted lawmakers to step in to mediate the countless disputes within the federal bureaucracy. Members of both sides had previously called for investigations into the security breaches on Jan.6, when pro-Trump rioters stormed officers from the Capitol and DC Police Department.
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