Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited National Guard troops protecting the Capitol on Friday afternoon amid rising growing calls for them to be sent home and COVID-19 ripping through their ranks.
The retired Army four-star general spoke to troops on the Capitol’s east front late Friday afternoon, telling them he is “absolutely grateful” for their work in patrolling Washington following the riot at the legislative complex earlier this month. “I want to check and see if you’re getting everything you need,” he said to the group, whose commander replied: “We are, sir. The entire Army is behind us.”
Austin told the group, “Your country’s grateful,” adding the lawmakers inside “are really, really grateful.”
“The Department of Defense is behind you,” Austin said. “We’re taking care of our troops. I really care about that.”
The defense secretary walked with another group down a sidewalk beside the Capitol as one described how forces were arranged at the new fence line’s edge.
“It’s my pleasure, sir,” one soldier told Austin, who thanked him for helping guard the Capitol. The same soldier said he did not need anything, which set up a lighter moment. “Not that you would tell the secretary of defense, if you did,” Austin quipped before adding seriously: “I hope that you would.”
A few minutes later, the secretary posed for a picture with yet another group of Guard members, all masked and socially distanced amid the pandemic, who were told to “take care of each other.”
The longtime soldier then offered some advice to the Guard personnel: “Stay focused, alright?”
The D.C. National Guard refused to disclose the actual number of Guard members still in Washington who are currently in isolation due to the virus, but the figure was previously reported as about 200.
“Right now, I am not at liberty to disclose the actual number from one time frame to another time frame,” Air Force Major Gen. Jerry Fenwick of the Office of the Joint Surgeon told the Washington Examiner after repeatedly dodging the question from journalists on a Friday press call.
“Our office has been tracking the actual percentage rates over a period of time due to the dynamic nature of the mission,” he added.
Guard officials said approximately 2% of their members serving in the capital city have contracted the virus.
Army Lt. Col. Paul Tumminello, deputy surgeon general for the D.C. Guard, said infected soldiers and airmen are restricted to their hotel rooms and that none have been hospitalized.
“We are taking very good care of our soldiers,” he said. “They are visited at least three times a day, getting all the food and care that they need.”
Infections are occurring despite screenings before departing their home state, temperature checks and questionnaires upon arrival, and being sent to quarantine once a Guard member displays symptoms.
In recent days, a growing chorus of governors and members of Congress have called on Guard members to be sent home. The calls to draw down come amid a Department of Homeland Security warning of potential violence by domestic extremists.
“What I can tell you is in terms of what [the FBI is] briefing us is, there are several upcoming events,” acting Army Secretary John Whitley told reporters Monday.
Razor wire was added to the top of seven-foot, nonscalable fencing on the vast Capitol perimeter facing Washington’s Union Station this week. Nearby, large Guard trucks were also parked to block access to previously open streets.
Nearby patrolling California National Guard members voiced frustration to the Washington Examiner when asked when they might be allowed to return home.
California National Guard Adjutant General, Army Maj. Gen. David S. Baldwin said his troops know their end date, and accommodations are being made on a case-by-case basis.
“We told the soldiers from that task force to expect to be on mission no later than the 14th of March,” he said. “The ones that have hardships we’re dealing with on an individual basis.”
Baldwin also noted that just one of the 260 Guard members now on duty in the Capitol have come down with COVID.
Washington National Guard Adjutant General Army Maj. Gen. Bret D. Daugherty said six of his 400 Guard members have been sickened, a consequence he called “inevitable.”
Washington Guard members suffered similar consequences in response to civil unrest last summer.
“Unfortunately it’s the environment that we’re working in now,” he said.
