I was very upset to see how our National Guard Troops were used in DC to "protect the Inauguration". There were 25,000 Guard troops that came from all over the US.. Why were they deployed without any logistical support? No quarters except for lying on the cold marble floors of the Capitol, or in an unheated garage, no sleeping gear or bunks, no food except what volunteers brought them. There was no contingency plan for these troops. They could have called in the 3rd Inf Rgmt (Old Guard) which is based in DC and is mission tasked to defend DC, or they could have flown in troops from the 82d Abn Div (they have a Brigade on 24 hr standby to go anywhere in the world). What happened to the predicted rioters on Inauguration Day? Nobody showed up because they went home after the 6th of Jan.

IMO the Sec Defense and the Chairman of the JCS should be held responsible for this misuse and lack of planning or logistical support. No way to treat our Citizen Soldiers.

Regiments in the Army are a bit of an anachronism. You have the Ranger regiments and the Old Guard but for the most part they are historical in nature. For instance the 1st Battalion 64th Armor Regiment is in 3ID but in reality there is no 64th Regiment. I believe the Old Guard has 3 battalions but they are smaller than the traditional Army battalion. I doubt they are in a position to support anything.

Caveat to my explanation..... I'm 4 bourbons in. I may not be 100% accurate.

Talk about some f.....comments!!!

Hey Nav said:

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Quote:

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...Should probably disband the military until needed, i.e. a declared war.. Mandatory drill weekends for all men of militia age...

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Would we have to bring our own musket and haversack?

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I got you covered. You want a smooth bore or a rifled musket?

Sorry the National Guard got kicked out of Dunkin Donuts on their deployment to DC

My buddy showed me a photo where a guy's belly was busting through his blouse and sagging over his trousers.

At least he had a PROMASK

WBBQ74 said:

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Posted on this before. Bad optics and misuse of 25K guardsmen and the $ spent to facilitate this farce. There was no 'threat' that warranted such a show. Hoping the story will come to light on who actually authorized this stupidity. Soldiers being used for props and photo ops is not a new thing but that doesn't excuse it when it happens. Not about sleeping in a garage in cold weather, bad chow, lack of sanitation, etc. Any one who has served in a combat arms unit has done/endured that and worse. It is about the poor choices made by those in the chain of command to let something like this happen. As a retired commissioned officer who has commanded troops from platoon to brigade size I find it revolting when stupidity affects soldiers. I fear that more stupidity is coming. Much worse than this.

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Preach!

MarathonAg12 said:

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My buddy showed me a photo where a guy's belly was busting through his blouse and sagging over his trousers.

At least he had a PROMASK

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One of my daughter's VMI "Brother Rats" who is a SPC in the Virginia Army National Guard was featured in a picture on one of the major news sites last week, CNN or something.

Anyway, my daughter wondered why they would take a picture of her BR standing there which his weapon in front of him and I told her - "It's because he looks like a soldier". This kid looked squared away.

So many of the pictures I've seen online have just been embarrassing. Or, maybe the National Guard has just been on break the entire time they've been there and also on break every time any news person takes a picture of them.

The exception of course being the unit that turned their backs on the Biden motorcade. They looked organised.

Just to add another element, after speaking with a friend who is there, this whole seems to be out of proportion from his standpoint. Said the parking garage was only a temporary thing (several hours), then into hotel rooms. Bathrooms were in short supply, but it wasn't only one. Said some dudes just got bored standing around and crashed out in the garage.

Will be interested in your friend's AAR when he gets back home. What did they actually do and did he think it appropriate to have so many folks there? What was his unit's mission? What was his CoC? I am seeing online that the AG of the DC ARNG was the operational commander of this deal; what was the command structure below him? How many days was he on orders? How did he come to 'volunteer' for this deployment and what was the usual 'volunteer' experience for the others he knew there? Any answers will be appreciated so that we can understand the real story behind this event.

AGR Captain.
-said it was stupid
- always volunteers for this stuff (flood rescue, riots, etc....) or more than likely voluntold
- enjoyed the sightseeing
- says slept comfortably in his hotel room

AGR CPT means he is full timer assigned to ARNG. He got voluntold likely. As an M-Day soldier over the 21 years I was in the TxARNG I had a mixed bag with AGRs. Some were great, some were goldbricks. Hope your bud is in the former group.

Was there some type of ad-hoc TF created for the guys from his state? Was he a staff guy or just a body out there like all the rest? Did he have any leadership responsibilities during all this?

Don't have that info, just know him and another CPT from the same BN up there. Other dude was just posting pics of the monuments and such.

I will say I'm glad I'm out and didn't have to participate in that dog and pony show.

When I was in the military, I've lived and worked in buildings that after they closed the base, were turned into a prison. The buildings we lived and worked in were deemed substandard to house prisoners, so they were torn down and new ones built.

When I was at JBLM our battery offices were on 1st floor and soldiers slept on 2 and 3 floor. They were tarping off sections and removing asbestos in a few areas while we were still utilizing the building.

Just got an update from the Virginia National Guard cadets who are still deployed in DC.

One of them has a very nice hotel room, the other one just has an average hotel room.

But the real interesting thing is the USO morale center or whatever it's called. The soldiers are able to watch TV, play Call of Duty (ironically), etc. It looked pretty sweet.

No comment on why are they still deployed in February but, the conditions look alright.