SC Army National Guard headed to DC

UNION, S.C. (WSPA) – A group of South Carolina Army National Guard soldiers left for the nation’s capital on Monday.

Approximately 70 soldiers of around 200 ordered by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster were deployed from the National Guard Armory in Union to support a federal security mission in Washington D.C. The mission was instructed by President Donald Trump and the Pentagon’s National Guard Bureau.

“People do not want to see the nation’s capital in shambles and dangerous. So, I say hallelujah for President Trump again, it is doing something that should have been done a long time ago, ” McMaster said.

Captain Jonathan Barr Commander of HHC 4-118 is one of the soldiers going to D.C.

“We’re heading up there in order to maintain, civility among the people with the utmost respect for the local populace and all of the civilians, and to work in tandem with the local law enforcement,” said Barr.

Lieutenant Colonel Travis Moore Commander of the 218th Brigade South Carolina Army National Guard said this will not have any interference with hurricane response.

“The South Carolina Army National Guard has over 11,000 soldiers, airmen, and state guardsmen. We’re sending approximately 200 to Washington, D.C., so this should have no impact on our ability and our capabilities to provide hurricane and crisis response,” he said.

Moore added outside of the D.C. National Guard, the South Carolina Army National Guard, will be the first soldiers on the ground in DC on mission this week.

“It’s important because it shows that South Carolina, responds. We respond professionally, we respond effectively, and, that whenever our nation, our state calls, we’ll be ready to answer. ”

Not everyone is happy about the mission.

Several state Democratic leaders said they are unhappy with the governor’s decision. State Representative John King (D – York) said in a letter to McMaster: “Governor this is not leadership. This is political theater at the expense of the people you swore an oath to serve. South Carolina does not need a governor more worried about pleasing Washington than protecting his own backyard.”

McMaster said the federal government is covering the cost of this deployment. He added this isn’t the first time South Carolina soldiers have been called to help, he said soldiers have been sent to the border.