West Virginia National Guard in Washington, DC for second week

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WBOY) — The West Virginia National Guard provided additional information about the soldiers who are deployed in Washington as they move into their second week in the nation’s capital.

Approximately 400 National Guard members from West Virginia arrived in Washington on Aug. 19. The WVNG said in a press release Wednesday that those members include those from the West Virginia Army National Guard’s 111th Engineer Brigade, 77th Brigade Troop Command, 771st Troop Command Battalion, 1092nd Engineer Battalion, 201st Field Artillery Battalion, and the 1-150th Cavalry Regiment alongside the West Virginia Air National Guard’s 130th and 167th Airlift Wings and the Homeland Response Force.

The guardsmen and women were deployed on orders from Gov. Patrick Morrisey to support President Donald Trump’s D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force.

According to the release, those West Virginians have been helping to task force “in areas of sustainment, logistics, administration, public affairs and Joint Staff augmentation” to reduce crime and ensure safety in the city.

They are not conducting beautification projects, collecting litter or restoring sites, the WVNG clarified in the release.

The ACLU of West Virginia has filed a lawsuit against Gov. Morrisey to stop the deployment, alleging that it exceeds Morrisey’s “constitutional and statutory authority.”

An estimated 2,000 National Guard members have been sent to D.C. in the past two weeks, including from West Virginia, Ohio, South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee. As of earlier this week, some of those members are carrying weapons.