According to US military officials, the cost of repairing Washington, D.C. streets following the upcoming military parade commemorating the Army’s 250th anniversary could reach $16 million.
That is part of the estimated $45 million total cost of the military parade on June 14, which coincides with President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday. Cost estimates have fluctuated as planning progresses.
In an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press” earlier this month, the president defended the parade’s cost, saying it was “peanuts compared to the value of doing it.”
“We have the best missiles in the world.” We have the best submarines in the world. We have the best army tanks in the world. We possess the greatest weapons in the world. And we’re going to celebrate it,” Trump concluded.
The parade will be part of a larger celebration in downtown Washington, which will include a variety of events, historical displays, and a demonstration by the Army’s famous parachute team, the Golden Knights.
The parade will feature approximately 130 vehicles, including 28 M1A1 tanks, 28 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, 28 Stryker armored fighting vehicles, and a number of vehicles towing artillery launchers. More than 50 helicopters will also conduct a “extensive flyover” of the nation’s capital.
The event will also bring more than 9,000 soldiers from across the country to Washington, with approximately 7,000 marching in the parade.
At least eight Army bands will perform, and some troops will ride on the nearly three dozen horses and two mules that are expected to march as part of the parade’s historical section.
Soldiers visiting Washington for the parade will be housed in government buildings, such as the Department of Agriculture and the General Services Administration.
Several thousand others will stay at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. Throughout their stay, the troops are expected to eat military rations known as meals ready to eat, or MREs.
Trump had long desired a military parade during his first term. However, it was canceled due to concerns about the cost and optics of a military parade in the nation’s capital that could be perceived as similar to those seen in Moscow, Beijing, and Pyongyang, North Korea. The inclusion of tanks in a potential parade raised concerns about the impact their tracks would have on Washington’s streets.
The Army is preparing for the potential harm to Washington’s streets with several measures that it hopes will prevent damage.
These include placing 1-inch-thick steel plates, some as long as 20 feet, along the parade route where the tanks must turn and could cause the most damage to the streets. The addition of the steel plates is expected to cost the Army approximately $3 million, officials said.
The tanks will also be outfitted with new track pads to separate the metal track from the ground, according to officials.
Army officials believe that these measures will keep the damage to a minimum and significantly reduce the cost of repairing it.
“We are focusing on areas where we have concerns, primarily areas where tracked vehicles will have to turn sharply,” said Col. Jesse Curry, the Army Corps of Engineers’ executive officer. “We are not particularly concerned that this staging area and routes were chosen to significantly reduce the risk of weight and damage.
But, in reality, we typically receive an exaggerated level of stress in areas where tanks must turn, particularly where the pavement surface is exposed.”
The parade route will run along Constitution Avenue on the National Mall from 23rd Street to approximately 15th Street.
The roughly 50 aircraft will consist of Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters, as well as several special operations variants. Several historic aircraft, including B-25s from World War II, P-51s, and helicopters from Vietnam, will also take to the skies.
The parade is scheduled to last approximately 90 minutes and will be divided into eras: the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the Global War on Terror, the modern Army, and the future. The Army’s Golden Knights will jump during the presentation on the Army’s future and plan to present Trump with an American flag.
In the early-May “Meet the Press” interview, Trump defended himself against claims that the military parade was for his birthday, pointing out that the Army’s 250th birthday and Flag Day are both on June 14.
“My birthday happens to be on Flag Day,” he informed me. “I see it as Flag Day, not necessarily my birthday. Someone put it together. But, no, I think we’ll do something on June 14, or somewhere close to that date. But I believe the date is June 14. It’s an extremely important day.”
