'It embarrasses me to be involved':
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It → embarrass → me
Inside the National Guard D.C. deployment
'It embarrasses me to be involved': Inside the National Guard D.C. deployment
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It → embarrass → deployment
As the sight of armed, uniformed National Guard troops became ubiquitous in Washington, D.C. over the past year, one voice has been notably absent from the public discourse around the deployment: the guard members themselves.
"I will say very frankly that the bad taste that this mission left in my mouth, it actually embarrasses me to be involved in any way," one guard member who was part of the deployment for several months recently told NPR.
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who → become → NPR
Thousands of National Guard members have been patrolling the streets of Washington, D.C. for more than a year now, in what has become President Trump's largest and longest domestic military deployment.
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what → patrol → year
Their presence has become a common, and controversial, topic of conversation among D.C. residents and constitutional experts alike, raising concerns about the normalization of armed troops in a city for an extended period of time.
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presence → become → time
Members of the military are not allowed to speak to the press without authorization.
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Members → allow → authorization
Under this administration, those rules and the ramifications for breaking them have gotten even stricter.
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rules → break → them
But some members who are no longer a part of the mission have become more open to sharing their thoughts as the deployment enters its second year – and has been extended to the end of President Trump's term.
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deployment → become → term
"I don't want to think about the National Guard.
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I → want → Guard
I don't want to necessarily discuss my affiliation with the National Guard.
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I → want → Guard
I don't want to fulfill my normal National Guard duties just because of the abuses of the National Guard in this D.C. mission," the guard member said, noting that isn't how he's felt after previous domestic deployments.
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he → want → deployments
That guard member was one of three who spoke to NPR on the condition of anonymity because they are still serving and are barred from speaking publicly.
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they → speak → anonymity
All of them were deployed as part of the D.C. Safe and Beautiful mission for many months and each has more than a decade of service.
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each → deploy → service
In candid interviews, the guard members described their feelings throughout their time on the deployment, and their worries about the new norms it's establishing.
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it → describe → norms
They discussed the cost, which is expected to run into the billions.
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which → discuss → billions
And they say they worry that Trump's unprecedented use of the troops is damaging the National Guard's reputation with the American public.
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use → say → public
All were skeptical about the administration's original reason for the deployment – to help with law enforcement after declaring a "crime emergency", despite a 30-year low in violent crime in the city.
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All → help → city
"Now, with it being a year, it's hard to feel like that justification holds any water," said one guard member.
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member → feel → water
"It feels like the guard is being exploited in a sense."
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guard → feel → sense
Another said it feels more like a political stunt, pointing out the way the guard has been inserted into certain narratives by the administration, like being ordered to patrol the perimeter of the Reflecting Pool following its faulty renovation.
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guard → say → renovation
"I hope that there will be some accounting someday — probably after President Trump is gone — about why we were there, and was it worth it?
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it → hope → ?
But none of that is gonna happen right now," that member said.
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member → go → that
NPR reached out to both the White House and the D.C. Joint Task Force regarding the concerns raised by the guard members.
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NPR → reach → members
The White House responded by reiterating how safe D.C. is now, without providing evidence that the guard is responsible for decreasing crime.
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guard → respond → crime
In a statement, Brig. Gen. Leland Blanchard II, the interim commanding general of the D.C. National Guard, called the deployment "unique," and pointed to "significant accomplishments" that guard members contributed in the past year including assisting law enforcement with apprehensions, rendering medical aid and reuniting lost children with their families.
"Whatever individual perspectives they carry away from their experience, their service and sacrifice deserve our respect," Blanchard wrote.
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Blanchard → command → respect
Trump first deployed the D.C. National Guard in August of 2025 — something he can do since the president controls the District's guard.
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president → deploy → guard
Hundreds of guard members in the district were pulled from their civilian jobs and immediately called up.
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Hundreds → pull → jobs
"My very initial reaction was just, I guess, shock and feeling like this context and this situation just felt like a very authoritarian move that kind of felt uncharacteristic of something you would see in our country," said one member of the D.C. guard, adding that the reasoning behind the deployment contributed to the confusion.
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reasoning → guess → confusion
In the days and weeks that followed, Republican governors began sending members of their guard to help with the mission.
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governors → follow → mission
"Walking into it, we had no real specifics," one guard member who was deployed from West Virginia remembered thinking.
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who → walk → Virginia
"The president is calling out the guard to make D.C. safe.
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D.C. → call → guard
Well, what the what the f*** does that mean?
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that → mean → what
All remembered a scramble in the early days to figure out what everyone should be doing, as more and more troops — who were all deputized as special law enforcement and armed with a handgun — arrived.
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who → remember → handgun
They said despite the confusion there was a collective effort to figure out how to be useful and effective.
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They → say → confusion
Military members are trained to be apolitical and follow orders.
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members → train → orders
"All of these people showed up, and then it was more of an after-the-fact figure out what we're going to do," one said, saying everyone was really trying to be as helpful as possible to the community with whatever resources they were given, like providing Naloxone to counter the effects of an opioid overdose or helping a bicyclist who had been hit by a car.
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who → show → car
"We can argue about why they were there and whether they should be there, but soldiers and airmen were trying to do the best with what they had."
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they → argue → what
In the early days, troops were largely assigned to help with beautification projects around the city: clearing trash along the road, bagging leaves in public parks or trimming trees at the National Mall.
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troops → assign → Mall
The guard member from West Virginia said that many of the members he had arrived with – most of whom had raised their hand for the deployment – became quickly disillusioned.
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most → say → deployment
"I know there were a lot of people that showed up from West Virginia specifically that were just like, I want to help, and then later they found out that they were taking out trash and setting up (logistical equipment).
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they → know → equipment
…and 40 more, not listed.
