Military members rehearse for Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in January 2017. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)
A massive military parade planned in Washington next month will cost an estimated $25 million to $45 million and will involve dozens of warplanes, hundreds of Army vehicles and thousands of soldiers from across the country sleeping in downtown government office buildings, an Army spokesperson said Thursday.
The parade, to commemorate the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary, will be held June 14, the same day as President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday, and will include representation from all active Army divisions, said Steve Warren, a spokesman for the branch.
The parade’s overlap with Trump’s birthday has prompted ire, especially at a time when his overhaul of the federal government includes slashing the Department of Veterans Affairs. The president has long mused about soldiers marching and tanks rolling down the streets of the capital and aircraft roaring overhead. Protest plans are also underway.
About 3,000 service members will be housed on unused floors of a General Services Administration building and 2,000 in an Agriculture Department building, Warren said. Most participating service members will arrive a couple of days before the parade, he said, and leave June 16.
Vehicles will arrive in the region by rail and be trucked into the city, he said. Participating aircraft will fly in.
Overall, 150 vehicles, 50 aircraft and 6,600 soldiers are expected to take part in the festivities, the Army has announced. There will be a fireworks display and a day-long festival on the National Mall with military demonstrations, musical performances and a fitness competition.
The parade will be part of a week-long celebration marking the anniversary of the Continental Congress’s vote to officially create the Continental Army to defend the colonies from the British. Other events include an Army birthday run at Fort Myer and a new exhibition at the National Museum of the U.S. Army.
Each division is responsible for funding transportation of personnel and equipment to and from the D.C. region.
“They’ll fund it, of course, but I think the important note is that it won’t affect their ability to train or supply themselves,” Warren said. “When units need more money, we give them more money.”
An application submitted earlier this spring by America250.org called for the parade to begin at the Pentagon’s north parking lot at 6 p.m., cross the Arlington Memorial Bridge into D.C. and continue on Constitution Avenue NW, ending at 15th Street. The Army’s Golden Knights will parachute down to the Ellipse, where there will be a presidential “review stand,” bleachers and a concert stage, the NPS application says.
“The procession will tell the story of the history of the Army, beginning with the Revolutionary War and concluding with the modern-day Army,” Army spokesperson Heather Hagan said earlier. The Army is working with local law enforcement, the National Park Service, the District Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Park Police and D.C. Water, which will assess the roads and bridges, Hagan said.
Demonstrators are also planning to protest the parade in D.C. that day. “The National Protest Against Trump and the War Machine plans to mobilize thousands from across the country to protest the military parade,” said a permit application filed with the National Park Service last week.
The last time troops paraded in D.C. was in 1991, when 800,000 people poured into the nation’s capital to honor Gulf War service members and watch a seven-block-long display of military equipment.
