WASHINGTON, D.C. –
More than 200 Connecticut National Guardsmen helped ensure the peaceful transition of power during several events before and during the 60th Presidential Inauguration in Washington D.C. on Jan. 20, 2025.
Servicemembers assigned to the 143rd Military Police Company, 142nd Medical Company,103rd Airlift Wing, and other units, provided security, medical, and tactical support during the inauguration.
Soldiers from the 143rd played a critical role in the mission by securing key checkpoints, perimeters, and entry control points including the National Gallery of Art’s East Building, where President Donald Trump and Vice President James David Vance hosted pre-inaugural events.
Connecticut Guardsmen collaborated with local and federal law enforcement agencies, such as the U.S. Capitol Police, D.C. Metropolitan Police, and the U.S. Secret Service, to assist with crowd management, traffic control, and maintaining security. Guardsmen who served as special police were deputized to assist law enforcement agencies properly.
“We met up with Capitol Police there, they escorted us to bike patrol, [and] bike patrol escorted us down to Constitution [Street] and they were very helpful,” said Cpt. Chantel Dumas, the commander of the 143rd Military Police Company., “They were super communicative, and helped the overall mission.”
Additionally, soldiers from the 142nd were responsible for the care of approximately 3,000 troops assigned to Task Force District, which took months of coordination with the D.C. National Guard as well as the CT Air National Guard and provided opportunities to refine other crucial skills.
“One of the highlights for me, in doing a mission like this, was getting to work a lot with the Air Guard so it was a joint mission, but we also had to go through like those mobilization processes of how to manifest everybody”, said Maj. David Pytlik, commander of the 142nd Medical Company. “How do we get them on an Air Force plane? You know, getting people on that C-130 and then walking through ahead of time and being able to bring that back to the unit and say that's exactly what we're going to do. It refreshes the muscle memory of how to do those deployment tasks. So, I think there was definitely value for the unit in training on that stuff and then actually doing it.”
Prior to executing the mission, the 142nd visited the Center for Education, Simulation, and Innovation at Hartford Hospital to sharpen their medical skills by training on interactive simulators that replicate real-life scenarios.
The main focus of this mission was to build readiness by giving troops the opportunity to put their training to use and work within an operational environment.
The main focus of this mission was ensuring our service members worked within their specialties.” said Col. Joseph Roden, commander of Task Force Federal. “We had Military Police doing Military Police jobs, medics doing medical work, and staff handling staff duties. That builds readiness because the same skills used here supporting the inauguration and civil authorities are the same ones they’d use to fight and defend national strategic objectives abroad.”
Approximately 8,000 National Guard troops from 43 states and U.S. territories mobilized to support the mission under Joint Task Force-District of Columbia. The CT National Guard served as the Brigade Headquarters for Task Force-Federal, a subordinate task force of three supporting teams, composed of approximately 2,100 National Guardsmen from 10 states and territories.
Guardsmen working under the Brigade Headquarters operated out of a Tactical Operations Center, where their primary role was to receive and disseminate vital intel along the chain of command. This was essential to maintaining order amid the unpredictable nature of the mission. Several changes went into effect such as important events being relocated or moved indoors due to external factors and Guardsmen were successfully able to execute the mission regardless of the ever-changing landscape of this historic operation.
The presidential Inauguration is a historically significant event that marks a transition of power between the outgoing and incoming president of the United States of America and has been part of the country’s heritage since the first inauguration on April 30th, 1789. Connecticut National Guardsmen played a crucial role in ensuring the safety and security of the 60th Presidential Inauguration as President Donald Trump took his oath of office.
Connecticut servicemembers returned on Jan 21st, 2025, and received presidential inauguration challenge coins and the Presidential Inauguration Service Ribbon during a ceremony two days later as a symbol of recognition for their performance and willingness to volunteer for the mission.
“They performed admirably, without flaw, without issues,” said Roden. “I have zero concerns and we had no problems.They did a great job representing not only themselves, but the Connecticut National Guard, in DC.”