February 01, 2021
Enough Is Enough: It's Time for National Guard Members to Go Home
Last year was an unprecedented year for domestic deployments of the National Guard.
While Guardsmen were tasked all year with responding to state and federal emergencies, providing COVID-19 testing and vaccine support and augmenting law enforcement for civil unrest, perhaps their most visible mission has been providing security for the presidential inauguration.
Scenes of some of the 26,000 uniformed troops sleeping in the U.S. Capitol complex, guarding national monuments and blocking off usually busy downtown streets dominated news sites around the country and the world.
The time has come for Guardsmen to return home and take up their state mission and civilian employment.
As the Biden administration enters its third week, the threat has passed and, along with it, the need for Guardsmen outside of the District of Columbia National Guard to monitor the situation. The time has come for Guardsmen to return home and take up their state mission and civilian employment.
The mobilization of Guard members to protect the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2021, demonstrates the flexibility required and the stresses placed upon the National Guard in recent years. The dual mission of the National Guard was especially tested in the run-up to the 59th presidential inauguration due to competing threats against both the U.S. Capitol and state capitols across the country.
Read the full article from Military.com.
More from CNAS
-
Incentivizing Military Service
Video
Katherine Kuzminski, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, discusses historic incentives the Navy and Air Force are now offering to new recruits with Gove...
By Katherine L. Kuzminski
-
Sharper: Climate Security
Commentary
Climate change is a force multiplier for geopolitical instability and operational readiness, the stressors of which profoundly impact national security priorities and resource...
-
DVOP/CVSO: Promising Practices to Connect and Serve
Podcast
Nathalie Grogan joins NVTI Podcast Series to discuss how Disabled Veterans’ Outreach Program (DVOP) specialists and other veteran service providers can best collaborate with C...
By Nathalie Grogan
-
Don’t Believe the Generals
Commentary
The outcome of America’s commitment was an Afghan government and military that couldn’t hold out long enough even for U.S. forces to leave with a semblance of dignity....
By Dr. Jason Dempsey & Gil Barndollar
