WASHINGTON (AP) – Dressed in full fatigues, Sgt. Michael Ray Forbes stuck out on 14th Street, a bustling and deeply gentrified strip of downtown Washington dotted with restaurants and clubs.
He approached Phillip Wallace, a 26-year old in torn jeans munching a doughnut, chatted him up a bit, exchanged phone numbers and handed him a pamphlet about joining the District of Columbia National Guard.
“Now I’m not going to be burning up your phone bothering you about this,” Forbes said in parting. “But you’ve got my number and you know where to find me if you’re interested.”
Wallace replied, “Yeah sure, definitely.” But he didn’t seem to be paying full attention.
The interaction, however brief and halting, represents a new era for the D.C. guard – a quietly critical force that has frequently found itself at the center of intense political debate, most recently over the historic security breakdown on Jan. 6, 2021.