Pentagon takes heat for extending Guard's time at Capitol

[DonViejo]

BY ELLEN MITCHELL - 03/13/21 06:04 AM EST

The Pentagon is facing heat after it extended the deployment of National Guardsmen at the U.S. Capitol for another two months.

Lawmakers have amplified their calls to prove the validity of the Guard’s mission — which earlier this week was extended through most of May — as the Defense Department has struggled to relay the reasoning for the deployment’s months-long continuation.

Likely to add to the scrutiny is the Pentagon’s new estimate that the National Guard’s deployment at the U.S. Capitol is expected to cost $521 million through May.

The Guard’s additional two months will cost $111 million while the initial three months of the mission, from January to March, will cost an estimated $410 million, the National Guard Bureau said in a statement to The Hill on Friday.

more
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/543013-pentagon-takes-heat-for-extending-guards-time-at-capitol

[gab13by13]

1. The cost is the same as,

4 Trump golf trips to Mar-el-Loco and his course.

[rickyhall]

2. Take it out of repugs paychecks.

[abqtommy]

3. snark on: Yeah, let's normalize the situation by pulling The Natonal Guard out of D.C.

and while we're at it remove all Covid Lockdown restrictions. What could go wrong?
snark off

[Hugin]

4. Which lawmakers are turining up the heat?

Pray tell?

Like I didn't know.

Nice feint there... Lawmakers is the new some people.

[The Magistrate]

5. Names, Sir! Can The Lady Give Names?

By now 'some lawmakers' is a category known to include active insurrectionists, who doubtless would find their avocation easier sans garrison....

[soothsayer]

6. They're reducing it a bit, the fence perimeter too

But it’s not yet safe to just leave things wide open, so take the heat.

[tetedur]

7. Operation Noble Eagle began after 9/11 and is ongoing as far as I can tell.

Continuous combat air patrols were maintained over Washington DC and NYC "until the Spring of 2002" one reference stated.

Initially, Noble Eagle CAPs were flown over cities such as New York and Washington, D.C., supported by E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft and tankers. These flights defended major urban areas against further 9/11-style aerial attacks and served as a visible symbol of government protection.

However, the CAPs proved to be unsustainable, in that they put a major strain on pilots, aircraft, maintainers, and the military budget. Cost estimates for the nonstop CAPs ran as high as $200 million a month, and the Pentagon began looking for more cost-effective ways to defend America.

https://www.airforcemag.com/article/0205eagle/


One reference dated 2007 said there had been 44,000 sorties and the cost had been $27 billion.

https://www.norad.mil/Newsroom/Article/578175/the-years-of-noble-eagle/

I never heard anyone complaining about the money back then. But back then Republicans may have had the notion that protecting the country was important. I'm pretty sure they want us to lower our guard because you know, it looks bad.