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Trump Inauguration: D.C. National Guard Commander To Be Removed From Post In Middle Of Event

By Patricia Ramirez
Published on: 19:54 PST, Jan 13, 2017

In a seemingly unprecedented move, the Army general commanding the D.C. National Guard is to be removed from his post – in the middle of the Trump inauguration. Effective 12:01 p.m. January 20, Major General Errol R. Schwartz will be stripped of his National Guard command, at precisely the same time Trump is sworn in.

What’s stranger? The D.C. National Guard Commander will have thousands of active troops on the ground at the inauguration, an inauguration that Schwartz reportedly spent months planning the security for. As The Washington Post reports, the Trump inauguration is considered a “national special security event,” and the D.C. National Guard (led by the soon-to-be defunct Major General) is slated to play a pivotal role in keeping the event secure.

“The timing is extremely unusual.”

The news that the head of the D.C. National Guard will be removed in the middle of the Trump inauguration is particularly perplexing considering the massive organized protests expected to descend on the city over inauguration weekend. Experts are predicting hundreds of thousands of protesters to show up in D.C. on or around January 20, perhaps as many as 750,000. Not to mention counter protesters and the tens of thousands showing up simply to revel in the festivities.

With one group of anti-Trump protesters, DisruptJ20, vowing to “paralyze the city,” security experts from dozens of agencies have been working in tangent to ensure that the inauguration remains safe for all. The totality of the security detail is being overseen by the Secret Service, but leaving thousands of National Guard troops minus their commanding officer directly in the middle of the Trump inauguration has many scratching their heads.

“We’re planning a series of massive, direct actions that will shut down the inauguration ceremonies and any related celebrations. We’re also planning to paralyze the city.”

Democratic D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson spoke out against the puzzling decision.

“It doesn’t make sense to can the general in the middle of an active deployment. He’s been really very good at working with the community, and my impression was that he was good for the Guard.

Schwartz, who is set to oversee his own D.C. National Guard troops, plus an additional 5,000 National Guard troops sent in from around the nation, plus be in charge of military air support over D.C. during the Trump inauguration, is similarly troubled by the news. News he claims he received in an email from the Pentagon.

“My troops will be on the street. I’ll see them off, but I won’t be able to welcome them back to the armory. [I would] never plan to leave a mission in the middle of a battle.”

Currently, it is proving difficult to determine who exactly made the call to end the career of the 65-year-old D.C. National Guard commander in the middle of the Trump inauguration. Schwartz has said that he plans to officially retire after he’s stripped of his D.C. National Guard commander post (a post he’s held since 2008, under George W. Bush) on January 20 at 12:01 p.m.

Major General Schwartz did submit a letter of recommendation after Trump was elected. This is standard procedure, as he is a presidential appointee, and would give Trump the option to start fresh. This despite the fact that the D.C. National Guard commander has held his post under two incredibly different administrations.

According to the military, Trump and his people opted to accept the Major General’s resignation, effective immediately. The Trump team claims that they wanted to keep the D.C. National Guard commander in his post, at least through the inauguration, but were pushed by the Army to make the change ASAP.

As the Chicago Tribune reports, the post of D.C. National Guard Commander is made by the POTUS, which will be Donald Trump at 12:01 p.m. on January 20. The Trump transition team has declined to directly comment on the shocking changing of the guard.

Schwartz says he will be replaced, in the interim, by a brigadier general immediately upon being removed from his post.

However, because Washington D.C. is not a state but rather a District, calling up the National Guard is already more complicated than is standard. In U.S. states, a governor can call their respective guards to active duty. In Washington D.C., a letter must be sent to the secretary of the Army, and a lengthy, seven-step process must be begun.

While the District has managed to streamline this seemingly convoluted and time-consuming protocol, it could prove a major problem next weekend. Particularly if something goes unexpectedly awry amid the removal of the D.C. National Guard Commander and inauguration of controversial President-elect Donald Trump.

[Featured Image by Evan Vucci/AP Photo]

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