Living with the National Guard in Washington, D.C.
Photo via Mia Kraus/The New Political
In August of this year, Washington, D.C., welcomed roughly 2,000 visitors from all across the country. They can be found all across the city, especially at tourist destinations and national monuments. Today, two of them approach a map in Farragut North Station, seemingly lost. Another group stares up at the Lincoln Memorial in awe. A group of six poses for photos — they seem more like tourists than members of the United States Military, their signature green garb and automatic weaponry being the only thing setting them apart from the average sightseer.
I’ve been in Washington for about a month now as a part of the Scripps Semester in D.C. program, and there hasn’t been a single day when I haven’t run into the National Guard. They’re friendly for the most part, if not incredibly hot under the Washington sun.
“Not as hot as Louisiana, that’s for sure,” one guard member said while the others in his unit, also from Louisiana, nodded along with him. Of the 15 National Guard units I spoke with, five were from Louisiana. None of them complained about the heat.
I ask all of them the same three questions: Where are you from? How do you like the city? Finally, what are you doing here?
The first question is answered easily. They’re from all over the East Coast, from West Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina or Mississippi. The second question is simple enough, too.
“It’s my first time here,” a guard member from West Virginia said. “So it’s all pretty neat.”
“I haven’t really gotten the chance to explore,” one from South Carolina explained. “But I think it’s pretty.”
The third question, though? It’s almost bewildering how I can’t seem to get a straight answer. But the lack of an explanation is an answer in itself: it seems like they have no idea what they’re doing here.
The National Guard's primary purpose is to respond to domestic emergencies, such as natural disasters. Their ranks are composed of civilians who hold jobs or are in education. On one weekend out of the month, they train for deployment. The National Guard is generally activated by the governor of a given state. In 1957, Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus famously used the National Guard of Arkansas to block nine African-American students from entering Little Rock Central High School in an attempt to integrate it. The president also has the power to activate the National Guard for federal emergencies.
President Trump’s stated reason for the activation of the National Guard in Washington is to combat crime in the city, despite 30-year lows for criminal activity. Despite this, residents overwhelmingly still see crime as a problem. According to a Washington Post poll, 70% of Washington residents found crime to be a problem. But 80% also opposed the deployment of troops.
Residents aren’t the only ones who don’t want the National Guard in the city. As the days wear on, more and more of the troops are showing signs of weariness.
I asked one how long he’s been here. “Too long,” he said.
“We were volun-told,” another guard member responded when I asked him if he had volunteered for deployment. His fellow troop member pipes up from behind. “I volunteered back when I thought it was going to be a week,” he explained. “But now there’s no end in sight.”
No end indeed. As of Sept. 3, the National Guard’s deployment orders have been extended through December, the Associated Press reported. The extension will ensure the troops will have uninterrupted benefits and pay, but it also means months away from home. It’s important to note that the National Guard members are not full-time members of the military; they have civilian jobs and civilian lives. Sometimes, those civilian jobs pay better than the National Guard does, with entry-level pay at $30,000 a year, or $17 an hour.
While individually they might not make much, the deployment of over 2,000 guardsmen causes labor costs to ramp up fast. Assuming all make entry-level pay and work eight-hour days, the government will spend over four million dollars on their salaries over the course of their deployment. They could be working longer hours and could be making more than an entry-level position with the National Guard. This estimate doesn’t include additional costs such as housing, food, transportation and laundry, that have been offloaded onto the government and paid for by our tax dollars. According to CNN, deployment could cost around one million dollars a day, and there’s no way of knowing for sure until the mission has ended.
Trump revealed on the TV show Fox and Friends that his administration would be sending troops to Memphis, Tennessee, calling the city “deeply troubled.” The price tag and legality of this operation are still unknown. California Gov. Gavin Newsom took the Trump administration to court over its deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles this summer. The court ruled the deployment an illegal overreach by the executive branch, and the Trump administration is planning to appeal the decision. Depending on the outcome of the appeal, the administration could be barred from sending troops to Memphis. Regardless of the court’s final decision, associated legal fees add to the already ballooning price tag.
All that money just for the National Guard to spend less time guarding and more time gardening.
Photo via Andrew Leyden/Getty Images
“Beautification projects” have largely taken place at various public parks and other tourist areas, where the National Guard trades their standard-issued M4 rifles for rakes and shovels. Such duties usually fall onto the National Park Service, but with sweeping cuts issued across the NPS, the National Guard has been ordered to pick up the slack.
There are times when the National Guard does cross paths with crime. Just outside Capital South Station, a group of five surrounds a man whose hands are zip-tied behind his back.
Photo via Mia Kraus/The New Political
But the Guard did not make the arrest themselves, nor do they have the authority to. Not pictured, but to the right of the group, two police officers speak on the radio while talking with a bystander. They made the arrest; the Guard was just along for the ride. If the Guard encounters any crime, they have to call the police, just like anyone else.
The National Guard has also been tasked with clearing out homeless camps across the city, but they never stay cleared out for long. On Aug. 30, I observed a homeless camp outside Eastern Market Station. A week later, I returned, and the encampment had been moved across the street. This trend is happening across the city; homeless people will be cleared out only to return a few days later, essentially turning them into nomads. When the Trump administration first announced that the National Guard would begin clearing out homeless camps, it came with a promise of aid in the form of mental health treatment and alternative housing. That promise has not been delivered.
Photo via Mia Kraus/The New Politcal
While most of the city continues to operate as normal, if not a little wary of the increase in camouflaged clothing, some have started taking direct action. Thousands took to the streets on the first Saturday of September to protest the deployment of the National Guard as part of the “We Are DC” march. The march began at 11 a.m. and concluded at the White House.
Some displays of protest have lasted even longer. Just outside Union Station, For Liberation and Resistance Everywhere has been protesting from a set-up consisting of tents and tables since May 1. FLARE is a self-described anti-fascist collective “working toward and beyond the impeachment, conviction and removal of Donald Trump,” according to their website’s homepage.
Photo via Mia Kraus/The New Political
Many of FLARE’s protestors at Union Station are veterans. They wear their service caps proudly while distributing pamphlets to anyone who passes by. Air Force Veteran Randy Kindle is one of them. He’s friendly, but serious. He pointed at a group of guards lingering outside the station and explained that most of them don’t want to be here.
“It’s a manufactured crisis,” he said. “They’re trying to normalize the military on the streets.”
He may have a point. The first week I spent in Washington, I saw the National Guard everywhere. They were impossible to miss. Now though, nearly a month later? They barely register.
Kindle explained that the longer things continue like this, the more the tension will affect everyone. He told me that if people aren’t careful, the worst could happen – and someone could end up hurt or killed.
“You can’t unpull a trigger,” Kindle said while handing out a pamphlet to a passerby. “You can’t unkill a civilian.”
