NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Officials with the Arkansas National Guard have confirmed the Dec. 1 deployment of troops to Washington, D.C.
Officials said a departure ceremony will be held at 9 a.m. Dec. 1 at the Fort Chafee Joint Maneuver Training Center. They added that roughly 100 Guard members will board a C-130 from the Arkansas Air National Guard’s 189th Airlift Wing at Fort Smith for their flight to Washington following the ceremony.
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The soldiers are being deployed from the state’s 142nd Field Artillery Brigade. Earlier this month, they began preparing for the deployment. In announcing the deployment, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said it will be for several months.
“Arkansas’ Guardsmen are there when we need them – whether it’s to deploy overseas, help secure the Southern Border, respond to a natural disaster, or keep our nation’s capital safe,” the governor said in a Nov. 3 statement. “I have no doubt that in this mission, they will show the same skill and discipline that makes them such valuable public servants and will help bring law and order back to the streets of Washington, D.C.”
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When the deployment was first announced, officials said the federally funded mission will use the soldiers to conduct security presence patrols and provide law enforcement support in designated areas. This deployment is part of a routine rotational relief of National Guard units currently assigned to the mission…