Follow up: Out-of-state soldiers worked Dem convention

Soldiers from as far away as Georgia were stationed in Denver during the Democratic National Convention, according to new information released by military officials.

A recent communique from the National Guard Bureau reveals that Army units from four states were in the Mile High City to assist federal and local law enforcement authorities with security and crowd control operations.

Units from Georgia, Nebraska, Utah and Wyoming worked with soldiers from the Colorado Army National guard during the massive political event:

As with almost any National Guard mission, units were prepared to assist military and civilians alike if authorities called upon them, task force officials said. They explained that in a civil support capacity, Guardsmen are capable of providing medical and security support, in addition to other specialties reserved for catastrophic events, such as site decontamination, personnel evacuation and medical triage.

Prior to setting up their equipment, the Guardsmen practiced donning and doffing their specialized personal protective gear and setting up and moving any external equipment in order to ensure they were ready to respond to an event if called by authorities.

Although military officials are still mum on just how many soldiers were stationed in Denver during convention week, The Colorado Independent reported leading up to the convention that the the state’s Army National Guard was planning to station at least 500 soldiers in facilities surrounding the city.

Erin Rosa was born in Spain and raised in Colorado Springs. She is a freelance writer currently living in Denver. Rosa's work has been featured in a variety of news outlets including the Huffington Post, Democracy Now!, and the Rocky Mountain Chronicle, an alternative-weekly in Northern Colorado where she worked as a columnist covering the state legislature. Rosa has received awards from the Society of Professional Journalists for her reporting on lobbying and woman's health issues. She was also tapped with a rare honorable mention award by the Newspaper Guild-CWA's David S. Barr Award in 2008--only the second such honor conferred in its nine-year history--for her investigative series covering the federal government's Supermax prison in the state. Rosa covers the labor community, corrections, immigration and government transparency matters. She can be reached at erosa@www.coloradoindependent.com.

Comments are closed.