Nebraska National Guard troops to deploy to Washington, D.C.

The Nebraska National Guard will deploy troops to Washington, D.C., next month.

Major Gen. Craig Strong, adjutant general of the Nebraska Military Department, said about 200 troops will head to the nation’s capital in the next 30 days and are expected to stay there for 90-120 days.

“We expect the Nebraska soldiers’ primary missions will be in the areas of monuments security, entry control, traffic control (and) roving presence patrols,” Strong said during a news conference Monday morning.

Strong said the National Guard Bureau contacted the Nebraska National Guard last week to ask if it had the capacity to send troops to relieve troops from 10 other states' National Guards that are ready to rotate out.

President Donald Trump first ordered National Guard troops to deploy to Washington, D.C., last August to support local and federal law enforcement. The deployment had been scheduled to end at the end of February, but federal officials recently extended it through the end of the year.

Gov. Jim Pillen, who has deployed the National Guard several times during his term, including to the southern border, said the deployment will be fully paid for by the federal government.