Georgia will send more than 300 National Guardsmen to support the wider military operation in Washington D.C., Gov. Brian Kemp announced Friday. Georgia becomes the seventh state to send forces to join the District of Columbia National Guard, and its troops will be the first to relieve forces currently deployed to the nation’s capital.
Kemp said that the Georgia National Guard already has sent 16 guardsmen to aid Joint Task Force – District of Columbia in specialized support roles, such as military police or medical services. They were sent to Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling inside the city earlier this week. They are expected to not interact with the wider public.
The rest, 300 soldiers, will arrive mid-September, per Kemp, and will join other guardsmen in more public-facing tasks, although what specifically they will be doing is not immediately clear.
“Their specific tasks vary based on the needs of those law enforcement partners,” the governor’s statement said. “Personnel may be armed, consistent with their training, depending on the mission and operating under civilian law enforcement.”
The D.C. National Guard first mobilized in the capital on Aug. 11, on the orders of President Donald Trump, claiming it was needed to deal with “out of control” crime and homelessness inside Washington, although the Justice Department’s own data showed crime at a record low. They joined hundreds of federal law enforcement personnel also deployed to the streets, although the National Guard is not conducting direct law enforcement activity. The more than 2,000 National Guard troops currently operating in Washington, D.C., the size of the force having swelled since guardsmen were first mobilized on Aug. 11. They have been spotted guarding monuments, patrolling parks and public transit stations around the city and picking up trash in multiple locations.
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The Georgia guardsmen are the first ones being sent to relieve those already mobilized. A spokesperson for Joint Task Force – District of Columbia confirmed that the Georgia National Guard will relieve currently deployed personnel from other states but did not say which specific units. There are currently 2,300 National Guard troops in the district. Approximately 950 are members of the District of Columbia National Guard. The rest are from Ohio, West Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina, sent by their governors at the request of the Trump administration. Earlier this week, Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll extended the orders for the District of Columbia National Guard to remain on active-duty through Nov. 30, according to ABC News. That specifically applies to the D.C guardsmen; the other state units are under different orders from their governors.
