Governor Brian Kemp’s (R) deployment of the Georgia National Guard to Washington, D.C has not been well received by Democrats, and State Representative Floyd Griffin (D) serves as an example. The Representative released a statement, condemning the deployment as political and dangerous for both the troops involved and the State of Georgia.
In the statement, Griffin first recounts his experience as a servicemember, commanding troops in Vietnam, Fort Stewart, and even at the Pentagon. With this experience in mind, he claims that the National Guard is simply not trained to perform political missions.
He believes that they should be directed along their intended purpose, which is to protect Georgians during natural disasters, state emergencies, and to be ready for combat deployment.
“The president is misusing the Guard by turning them into a political prop in Washington. Soldiers are not trained to pick up people off the street, act as crowd control or sweep up after protests,” Griffin stated. “They are trained to fight, to defend and to be ready for combat if our nation calls. Using them as street cleaners and political muscle is an insult to their service and a dangerous distortion of their mission.”
The Representative claimed that every hour the Guard spends in Washington is an hour lost preparing for real combat. He worries that this will leave them unprepared and at risk of being ineffective when they are deployed overseas.
Griffin then drew on his experience to explain how “readiness saves lives” and derided President Donald Trump’s takeover of D.C as a "partisan political conflict." “Our Guard members are citizen-soldiers with families, jobs and obligations here in Georgia,” he stated. “To uproot them for a political stunt in Washington is irresponsible, unnecessary and deeply disrespectful to their service and sacrifice.”
Griffin concluded by announcing that he has called on State Representative Josh Bonner (R) to organize a formal meeting of the House Defense and Veterans Affairs Committee for the purposes of receiving an update on the deployment of the Georgia National Guard to Washington, D.C.
