Photo By Staff Sgt. Jadyn Eisenbrandt | Idaho National Guard Soldiers and Airmen attached to Joint Task Force District of...... read more read more
WASHINGTON- Task Force Snake, made up of approximately 350 service members from the Idaho National Guard, supported civil authorities during the 60th Presidential Inauguration (PI60) in Washington D.C., Jan. 15-21, 2025.
Task Force Snake was assigned to Joint Task Force District of Columbia, which supports presidential inaugurations every four years and is led by the commanding general of the D.C. National Guard.
“We were a reserve unit to support Task Force District and Task Force Federal, two other task forces that had primary missions within the National Mall, specifically the area right in the center of town,” said Lt. Col. Barret Bishop, commander of Task Force Snake. “Soldiers and Airmen directed foot traffic, performed crowd management and conducted vehicle traffic and checkpoints. They also acted as sensors, reporting anything they saw to civil authorities.”
JTF-DC supported civilian authorities such as the U.S. Capitol Police, U.S. Secret Service and the D.C. Metropolitan Police by providing services like crowd management, traffic control points, CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapon) response, civil disturbance response and sustainment operations.
In the days leading up to the inauguration, Task Force Snake was assigned as a quick reaction force for JTF-DC. As a QRF, Guardsmen were on call to deploy from their staging area should civil authorities need their support.
The Idaho National Guard’s involvement in PI60 provided unique training opportunities with local community partners, such as the Boise City Police Department. From Jan. 15-16, before the task force departed for Washington D.C., BPD provided civil disturbance training; this included protest, demonstration and riot deescalation techniques and proper use of equipment. The training ensured that the task force was prepared as a QRF during the peaceful transfer of power from one presidential administration to the next.
“We trained with the Boise City Police Department on crowd management,” said Bishop. “The Boise police had officers with crowd-control experience that taught us a lot about their experiences and things that we could implement if we needed to.”
On Jan. 20, Task Force Snake was called upon to support United States Capitol Police in crowd management operations around the Capitol Building.
“We were assigned to the civil disturbance, traffic control and patrol perimeter mission,” said Staff Sgt. Kelsey Alder, a bioenvironmental engineer assigned to the Idaho Air National Guard’s 124th Fighter Wing. “On Inauguration Day, we worked several entry points to direct traffic and entry-point access. We worked alongside the U.S. Capitol Police, who deputized us a few days prior to the inauguration in order to perform these specific duties.”
Task Force Snake worked directly with USCP on inauguration day.
“We are the citizen-Soldiers and Airmen of the National Guard,” said Bishop. “This entire task force was made up of people who have civilian jobs, who live and work in the community. They left those jobs and their homes to perform this duty. We are always there in the community, but when called upon, we are ready to go.”
| Date Taken: | 01.24.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 01.26.2025 13:12 |
| Story ID: | 489674 |
| Location: | IDAHO, US |
| Web Views: | 67 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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