JANUARY 20, 2025 — Thousands of National Guard service members are here supporting interagency partners as part of Joint Task Force-District of Columbia leading up to the 60th Presidential Inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025. Many of those service members are providing traffic control and crowd management at the request of civil authorities.
“Today we’re directing foot traffic and assisting with traffic control,” said Sgt. Savannah Carnes, a motor transport operator and team leader assigned to the 121st Transportation Company, 213th Regional Support Group, Pennsylvania Army National Guard.
Carnes, a Harrisburg, Pa. native, joined the Army National Guard in 2017. She says her team has had many positive interactions with D.C. pedestrians while performing their duties, and that the members of the public here are some of the friendliest she’s had the pleasure of interacting with in her seven years of military service.
“Everyone has been really respectful and receptive to our presence here,” Carnes said. “A lot of people thank us for our service and seem to appreciate what we’re doing to support the inauguration.”
For many service members, this is the first time they’ve been involved with a mission of this scale.
“I volunteered for this mission because I wanted the experience of supporting an event that doesn’t occur too often,” said Spc. Kane Lesoine, who’s also a motor transport operator with the 121st Transportation Company and hails from Hyndman, Pa. “I’ve supported a handful of other active duty missions since I joined the National Guard in 2022, but nothing like this where the Guard is collaborating with so many different partners. It’s an honor to be a part of history in the making.”
Both Carnes and Lesoine say they’ve also had positive experiences working alongside the D.C. Metropolitan Police, one of the partner agencies the National Guard is working alongside to ensure a safe and peaceful transition of power during this historic event.
“There’s been a lot of moving pieces and short-notice changes leading up to Inauguration Day,” said Carnes. “We’ve had to remain ready to adjust and adapt quickly, and working closely with the D.C. Police and our other partners makes that much easier to do.”
The National Guard’s motto of “Always Ready, Always There” continues to be demonstrated on a daily basis as the approximately 8,000 National Guard service members here continue to support the 60th Presidential Inauguration.
Story by Sgt. 1st Class Shane Smith
60th Presidential Inauguration Joint Information Center