Hawai‘i National Guard Sending 200 to DC in Advance of Inauguration

Hawaii National Guardsmen Aven Santiago. PC: Crystal Richard.

The Hawai‘i National Guard is sending several soldiers to Washington DC as part of increased security ahead of the inauguration of President-Elect Joe Biden next Wednesday.

Two-hundred members of the State Guard will arrive at an unspecified date before Jan. 20 and will perform a multitude of missions in support of local law enforcement. The Hawai‘i Guard is dispatching the soldiers at the request of the National Guard Bureau.

“The Hawai‘i National Guard received a request to provide Guardsmen in support of the Jan. 20, 2021, Presidential Inauguration just yesterday and soldiers are reporting today,”Maj. Gen. Kenneth S. Hara, adjutant general, Department of Defense, said Thursday. “The Hawai‘i National Guard continues to impress me with their ability to respond to the most difficult challenges. They definitely epitomize the National Guard’s ‘Always Ready, Always There’ motto.”

Roughly 800 guardsmen are still activated for COVID-19 support and the deployment of these members will not impact the effort to support the state of Hawai‘i, according to a release from the office of Gov. David Ige. There are nearly 4,000 Guard members that will remain in the islands to assist with any local disasters.

For security reasons, more specifics about the deployment cannot be released at this time.