WASHINGTON — The D.C. National Guard publicly promised to screen all members before and after deployment, but one Guard member tells us that never happened.
We're shielding her identity because she's not authorized to talk and fears retaliation from her command, but this guard member is now sick and awaiting the results of her coronavirus test.
"I have a sore throat currently," she said. "And a dry cough.... Like everybody, you don't know if this is paranoia or if you're really sick, and the only thing I can do is just continue to wait until my results come back."
She was among some the more than 5,000 guard members from D.C. and several other states who were ordered to deploy in the District in response to the Justice for George Floyd protests.
A spokesman for the D.C. National Guard confirms that members have tested positive for COVID-19, but declines for security reasons to say how many.
"Personnel were medically screened for COVID-19 prior to arriving," wrote Capt. Edwin Nieves, Jr.
But the guard member WUSA9 spoke to says she was not.
"I myself have not had my temperature taken once," she said. "No one was there to ask me a single question,.... there are signs posted, but there was no screening, or questionnaire put out to see if everyone was in good health."
She said it was more than 10 days into her deployment, after an Associated Press story, that commanders finally started pushing all troops to wear masks. But she says many went uncovered before that, especially troops from other states.
"I interfaced with over 500 soldiers in a day, and not a single one had on a mask," she said.
She provided uWUSA9 texts suggesting some reported to the armory even though they had symptoms.
"Soldiers who were sick still came to work," she said. "They had symptoms they were recovering from, still came to work," she said.
She loves the Guard and loves serving, but said the message she's getting from her command is that she and other troops are "expendable."
The guard spokesman said unit commanders are responsible, and that it's up to them to make sure troops have protective equipment and that social distancing rules are followed.