WASHINGTON (WHDH) - Massachusetts has sent 500 National Guard troops to Washington DC to support Capitol police officers as they step up security preparations ahead of Wednesday’s inauguration.
“We are just so happy to support the US Capitol police after everything they’ve been through,” Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Clark said.
With tens of thousands of boots on the ground, the local troops, some as young as 18-years-old, are working side by side with other soldiers from every US state and territory to guard the perimeter of the security zone after an angry mob broke into the Senate Chamber on January 6.
Some of them from the 26th Yankee Division.
“We’re here to just provide security as needed and you know, we are committed to doing it safely and respectfully so that all our fellow citizens can enjoy the peaceful transfer of power,” Clark said.
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The 50-year-old Dartmouth man who has been placed in charge of the Bay State’s troops said he has full confidence in his team despite some recent and troubling reports that the soldiers may pose some kind of internal threat.
“I respect our senior leaders with their opinions but I think in Task Force Americal, the Massachusetts National Guard, we are really proud of these soldiers and they are highly motivated to support this great event,” he said. “They are adaptive they are flexible, they never complain about what we ask them to do. So, I just think the families back home in Massachusetts and Rhode Island should be so proud — I mean, I am so proud of their attitude and what they’re doing,” Clark said.
The secretary of the Army issued a warning on Sunday that with so many servicemembers on-site, there may be a security threat from within.
The FBI spent and secret service have spent most of the day on Monday doing extensive and repeated background checks on all of these men and women.
The enhanced background checks are all part of the job and the Massachusetts soldiers who spoke to 7NEWS said they have seen no signs of trouble within the ranks.
“We’ve all been briefed on it. But, we all work together on a monthly basis at least, a lot of us have been working together on a daily basis so we all know each other, we all look out for each other, so we’re taking care of each other,” Sargeant Brian Quinn of Melrose said.
“Regardless of political background, political beliefs everyone here really believes in the mission and it’s, there really is no dissent when it comes to what we are here to do,” 22-year-old Specialist Dan Silverman from Peabody said.
On Monday afternoon, the acting secretary of defense said there has been no sign of any threat from within.
Silverman joined three years ago when he was 19 and said morale is high among the part-time soldiers pressed into service after the mob scene at the Capitol earlier this month.
“Morale is pretty high we’re definitely being treated well, we all have our own hotel rooms, the food has been great,” he said. “Morale is high all things considered.”
Among the 500 soldiers working, is the first woman in Bay State history to become a commissioned infantry officer, Second Lieutenant Emily Jordan of Dalton.
“My role as a female, it’s really my role as a second lieutenant that I focus predominantly on because it doesn’t matter the gender for me.”
Taking no chances, the government has called in the “big guns” trained in the ways of war. But the missing is to keep the peace respectful.
“When people see the guard,” Clark said. “They know we are here to help.”
He said he has no idea how long the troops will be needed in the Capitol though they will surely be there through the end of the week. From there he said he believes it will be a slow move back to Massachusetts.
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