Kathy Stewart, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – Thousands of National Guard troops are deploying to the D.C. area to help with Monday’s inauguration.
They began arriving Friday morning at the D.C. Armory. Metropolitan Police Lt. Kervin Johnson thanked the first 400 National Guard troops for their service just before swearing them in.
Brig. Gen. Art Hinaman, with the D.C. National Guard, will lead the troops who will arrive during the next few days. Friday’s group was one of the first to arrive and check in.
“We’ve got about 6,000 airmen and soldiers coming into D.C. to support the inauguration. We’re in support of civil authorities,” Hinaman says.
These men and women, representing 30 different states and territories, will back up local and federal law enforcement.
“They get sworn in as Metropolitan Police,” Hinaman says.
Hinaman says they’ll help with things like traffic control and crowd control.
Other National Guard troops are arriving and being processed at Fort Belvoir and Joint Base Andrews, in addition to the D.C. Armory.
The brigadier general says the guard’s support is not a new tradition.
“The D.C. Guard has (done) that ever since Abraham Lincoln,” he says.
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