(Undated) -- Hundreds of Illinois National Guard troops assigned to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. are headed home.
Roughly 400 Illinois National Guard members made the trip back home on Monday after helping protect the Capitol since January. About 100 Illinois members have volunteered to stay behind in D.C. with nearly 2,300 other troops and will continue to provide help to the U.S. Capitol Police until mid-May.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker activated the 500 or so Guard members to support security in the nation’s capital in late-January at the request of the Department of Defense. “They have done their duty with pride and immeasurable selflessness and I am proud to welcome them back home,” said Gov. Pritzker.
The Illinois Army National Guard’s Chicago-based 108th Sustainment Brigade and its subordinate battalion, the North Riverside-based 198th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, provided the bulk of the Illinois National Guard force for the Washington, D.C. mission. The Illinois National Guard members were activated under the provisions of U.S. Title 32, which leaves them under the authority of the Governor with all costs paid by the federal government.