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When our nation called for Guardsmen to defend the U.S. Capitol, nearly 400 Soldiers from the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team thunderbirds answered the call and rapidly mobilized, arriving in Washington on Sunday, January 17, 2021.
The Oklahoma Army National Guard Soldiers, along with attached security forces personnel from the Oklahoma Air National Guard’s 137th Special Operations Wing and 138th Fighter Wing are serving alongside 25,000 Guard members from multiple states to defend the U.S. Capitol building and other areas around the capital city.
With the Secret Service as the lead federal agency for the mission, the Oklahoma Guardsmen are conducting security-related missions to include crowd control, traffic control and assistance with entry points.