Military parade to celebrate the Army’s 250th anniversary will be held on Trump’s birthday

WASHINGTON AP The Army on Friday established there will be a military parade on President Donald Trump s birthday in June as part of the celebrations around the organization s th birthday Plans for the parade as first detailed by The Associated Press on Thursday call for about soldiers vehicles and helicopters to follow a trail from Arlington Virginia to the National Mall Until in recent weeks the Army s birthday festival plans did not include a massive parade which officers say will cost tens of millions of dollars But Trump has long wished a military parade and discussions with the Pentagon about having one in conjunction with the birthday festival began less than two months ago The Army th birthday happens to coincide with Trump s th birthday on June In a comment Friday Army spokesman Steve Warren explained the Army s birthday celebration will include a spectacular fireworks display a parade and a daylong festival on the National Mall The pricey parade comes as Trump and his Department of Establishment Efficiency run by Elon Musk have slashed federal establishment departments personnel and programs with thousands of workers losing their jobs including civilians in the Defense Department In comments to Fox News Digital White House personnel certified a commemorative parade would take place and revealed it would be one of the first events to kick off a yearlong celebration of the nation s th anniversary When sought about the parade Thursday the White House did not respond and Army executives commented no decision had been made While officers declared there has now been a formal decision to proceed with the parade there is still no specific cost estimate Warren revealed that given the significance of the Army birthday they are looking at options to make the celebration even bigger with more capability demonstrations additional displays of equipment and more engagement with the population Army planning documents obtained this week by the AP and dated April and explained the parade will include soldiers from at least corps and divisions nationwide They explained it would involve a Stryker battalion with two companies of Stryker vehicles a tank battalion and two companies of tanks an infantry battalion with Bradley vehicles Paladin artillery vehicles Howitzers and infantry vehicles The plans note that while the parade will begin near the Pentagon the heavy tracked vehicles which would include the Strykers would be stationed near the Lincoln Memorial and join the procession there so they will not go over the bridge from Virginia City personnel including D C Mayor Muriel Bowser acknowledged in April that the administration reached out to the city about holding a parade on June At the time she declared that tanks rolling through the city s streets would not be good If military tanks were used they should be accompanied with a great number of millions of dollars to repair the roads she explained The Army birthday festival has been planned for more than a year and is slated to include displays of Army equipment military demonstrations musical performances and a fitness competition on the National Mall The late afternoon parade would be followed by a parachute jump by the Golden Knights a concert and the fireworks The planning documents also suggest that civilian participants would include historical vehicles and aircraft and two bands along with people from veterans groups military colleges and reenactor organizations According to the plans the parade would be classified as a national special precaution event and that request has been submitted by the National Park Utility and is under review During his first term Trump proposed having a parade after seeing one in France on Bastille Day in Trump revealed that after watching the two-hour procession along the famed Champs-Elysees he sought an even grander one on Pennsylvania Avenue That plan was ultimately dumped due to the huge costs with one estimate of a million price tag and other logistical issues Among those were objections from city bureaucrats who mentioned including tanks and other heavy armored vehicles would tear up the roads Trump announced in a social media post in that he was canceling the event over the costs and accused local politicians of price gouging