Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Thursday he has authorized the Arkansas National Guard to deploy about 500 soldiers and airmen to Washington, D.C. to help protect the nation’s Capitol during the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, and he plans to attend the inauguration as well.
The deployment of these National Guardsmen will begin on Sunday and they will return before the end of January, according to the Arkansas National Guard.
“As I thought about the request that was made for assistance of our National Guard resources, yes, we want to participate in that,” Hutchinson said during the superintendents symposium for the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators . “We want to do our share to keep our nation’s Capitol safe.
“Hopefully …. it will be a very safe venue, but it is important that we have a smooth transition and a peaceful transition that reflects the best of America and we want the world to see that,” the Republican governor said.
Federal officials requested help from each state to protect the nation’s Capitol during the presidential inauguration and initially requested Arkansas to provide 400 National Guardsmen and later increased its request to 500, Hutchinson said in an interview after the event.
“In talking with General [Kendall] Penn, we do have sufficient resources that in the event there was any threat here in Arkansas that needed deployment we do have sufficient to cover both here and what we are sending to Washington,” he said.
The Arkansas National Guard will mobilize and deploy about 500 soldiers primarily from the 142nd Field Artillery Brigade based in Northwest Arkansas and airmen from the 189th Airlift Wing, the Arkansas National Guard said in a news release.
The U.S. Secret Service is the lead federal agency responsible for coordinating, planning, exercising and implementing security for National Security Special Events, such as presidential inaugurations.
Arkansas National Guardsman will work alongside several other states’ National guard units, the D.C. Metro Police, the U.S. Park Police, the U.S. Capitol Police and the Secret Service, according to the Arkansas National Guard. The requested missions include assistance with traffic control and access control points, traffic management, Metro Station security, crowd management, patrol/watch stander on outside fencing, and facility security at City Hall, the National Mall and the Lincoln Memorial, among other tasks.
The Arkansas National Guard’s 189th Airlift Wing based at Little Rock Air Force Base will provide C130H aircraft to transport the Guardsmen to Washington D.C.
Hutchinson told the educational administrators that for the young people, who saw the assault on the nation’s Capitol last week, “I am sure that went through their mind was all kinds of questions and thoughts that really is not what we want to be represented in our nation’s democracy and the institutions of our government.
“So, it is very important for me, it is important for our nation that we have a very successful peaceful inauguration next week on Jan. 20,” he said.
Hutchinson said he plans to attend Biden’s inauguration to represent the state Arkansas and the nation’s governors.
“I think it is important as a loyal member of the opposition party that we demonstrate to the world that there is a togetherness and a transition, where opponents come together and say, ‘We might disagree, but we want everything to work together well for our country and our future,’” he said.
Afterward, Hutchinson said it is typical for a governor to attend the inauguration of the president.
“With the limitations placed on this inauguration because of both coronavirus and the threats, it is a little bit tougher issue,” he said.
“With both my role with leadership of the National Governors Association as well as representing Arkansas, it is important for me to be there to represent our nation’s governors because you have not just the Congress of the United States, you have the judiciary that is represented there, but also the governors as part of our system of democracy need to be represented there,” he said.
Hutchinson said he is currently vice chairman of the National Governors Association and expects to be become chairman of the association starting in August. He is a former 3rd district congressman, federal Homeland Security undersecretary and U.S. Drug Enforcement administrator.