Back in the summer of 2008 Utah Department of Public Safety received an invitation to send a group of State Troopers to participate in the 2009 Inauguration festivities. A request was sent out to see how many officers might be interested and apparently, to DPS Administration's surprise, they received a large response. I've never been told how the selection was made, but somehow the list of applicants was narrowed down to 40 and for some reason I made the cut.
Over the months of November and December there was a series of frantic and confusing meetings and finally on the morning of January 18th at 1:45 am I dragged my giant suitcase out the door and headed for for Washington DC.
We had to arrive at the Salt Lake airport several hours prior to our flight because we were flying armed and the TSA needed us to write our names and various combinations of numbers many times on many forms to assure that we did not intend to hijack any planes. After flying on a "plane" that bore a striking resemblance to an irrigation pipe containing too many old car seats, I arrived at Reagan International Airport in Washington DC.
Our group was met at the airport by a Lieutenant from DC Metro Police who would act as our liaison. This guy was cool! He was a cop but he may as well have been in the mafia. He had the hook-up for everything in that city and I wish we would have had the time to take advantage of his connections. (He actually tried to get us inside the White House on the day of the inauguration.) We also had our own bus and bus driver, who was himself a bit of a wild man. He tore through the crowded streets of DC like he was driving an indestructible Mini Cooper. I saw many frightened DC motorists and pedestrians and passengers.
On Monday the 19th our group went into the city to a briefing at American University. We were addressed by the Mayor of Washington DC, The Chief of Police, and the Special Agent in Charge of the Secret Service, before being sworn in as Special Deputy US Marshals. There were over 4,000 police officers from all over the country there and there was a great feeling of brotherhood and pride.
After we left the briefing our driver and liaison broke many laws (both of man and of time and space) to get us downtown to the Law Enforcement Memorial then back to our hotel in Virginia. (Think car chase in "Bullit" only with a bus instead of a Mustang) We had to get back to our hotel early because we had to be up and going a 2:00 am the next morning.
In the middle of the night on the 20th I stumbled out of bed, struggled into my uniform, and climbed aboard the magic bus. We rushed through traffic and security into the city only to sit on the bus for more than an hour while the logistics of getting us on post were sorted out. Finally around 5:00 am we marched through the streets of Washington to 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, where we would stand for the next 12 to 16 hours.
We were about a half mile from the National Mall and could hear the roar of the crowd even without the assistance to the loudspeakers that broadcast the inauguration ceremonies. We were also one block away from the White House, which gave our liaison the opportunity to put his skills into action. He arranged for our group to be escorted through the Secret Service security and barricades to have our picture taken behind the White House. From what I understand, on the day of the inauguration, this has never been allowed before. Once we finished our photo shoot we went back to our post where we stood facing the crowd making sure no one did anything crazy until about 7:00 pm that evening.
Thankfully, no one did do anything crazy, I was able to see President Obama's car and Vice-President Biden as they passed, I saw a lot of incredible historic landmarks, and was proud to be a part of what I believe was a very important moment in our nation's history. And, despite thinking I was dying of hypothermia a couple times, I had a really great time and would do it again in a second.
