The U.S. Army Caisson Platoon of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) will be among the Army units leading the way in Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 presidential inaugural parade. Members of the regiment, based at Fort Myer, Va., have marched as the official “Escort to the President” in every procession since the 1953 inaugural parade of President Dwight D. Eisenhower after President Harry Truman officially bestowed that title on the unit in 1952.
Other Army units confirmed for the procession include the 1st Cavalry Division’s Horse Cavalry Detachment from Fort Hood, Texas, and the 1st Infantry Division Commanding General’s Mounted Color Guard from Fort Riley, Kan.
The Army leads every inaugural parade procession for two reasons, said Maj. Brian Fiddermon, OIC of the Joint Team Parade. First, some Continental Army veterans of the Revolutionary War escorted George Washington up the steps of Federal Hall in New York City for his first inauguration in 1789. Also, as the nation’s oldest and largest service, the Army’s place at the head of the inaugural parade procession is “symbolic of the peaceful transition of power” from one presidential administration to the next, he said.
Association of the U.S. Army, Delaware Chapter 