Indiana Guard troops arrive in Washington D.C.

The Indiana National Guard is deployed in Washington, D.C. after training at Camp Atterbury.

According to the Guard, about 300 members arrived in D.C. Saturday to take part in the “D.C. Safe and Beautiful” mission. Their work will include traffic control posts and community safety patrols, officials say.

Lt. Col. Derek Sutton, commander of the D.C. contingent, said in a speech to the troops, their families and other dignitaries Friday in Franklin that the mission is to “help create a saver environment for the people who live, work and visit there.”

The deploying troops trained at Camp Atterbury since mid-November, including response, crowd management and de-escalation techniques.

TTWN Media Networks contributed to this report

Photo: Guard soldiers with 113th Engineer Battalion, based in Gary, and assigned to Joint Task Force – District of Columbia, stay warm around a fire pit between shooting iterations during a qualification range at Camp Atterbury near Edinburgh Wednesday. Photo courtesy of  Sgt. Skyler Schendt, Indiana National Guard Headquarters.