As the Army prepares for its 250th birthday parade, the service is hauling in millions of pounds worth of military equipment into Washington, D.C.
The parade is designed to tell the history of the service, highlighting uniforms and equipment that date back to the Revolutionary War up until the present day, Col. Chris Vitale, an officer in charge of Army birthday week planning, told reporters in May.
Army equipment will be showcased at a staging area in the heart of downtown D.C., while others will be part of the parade as soldiers march down Constitution Avenue, dressed in historical uniforms that are being supplied by a production company.
“What’s unique about this parade is that the march units are going to be all designed around that specific conflict area, so you’ll see the ground platforms or aviation platforms that will be associated with that time period that will be timed with when that march unit passes through,” Vitale said.
Some of the armor and aircraft headed to the nation’s capital are the poster children of the U.S. military’s World War II campaign, like B-25 bombers or the M4 Sherman tanks, which were the most common ones used by Allied forces. North American B-25 Mitchell bomber planes were used to bomb Japanese airfields in the Pacific and are famous for their use by Gen. Jimmy Doolittle in the Tokyo Raid on April 18, 1942. There will also be a P-51 Mustang, a single-seat fighter aircraft used during World War II and the Korean War, and a Douglas C-47 Skytrain aircraft, which was used to carry paratroopers jumping into combat.
Here’s a list of the equipment that the Army is bringing in and using for the parade:
World War II
- Two M4 Sherman tanks
- One North American B-25 Mitchell bomber
- Four P-51 Mustangs
- One Douglas C-47 Skytrain
- One M4 Tractor
- One CCKW 2.5-ton truck
- One 37mm anti-tank Gun
- Six WWII-era Jeeps
- Three M151 Jeeps
- Two M35A2 2½-ton cargo trucks
- One M274 Mule utility truck
Current Army vehicles
- 26 M1 Abrams tanks
- 28 Bradley Fighting Vehicles
- 27 Stryker vehicles
- Four M109 Paladins (self-propelled Howitzers)
- Five Joint Light Tactical Vehicles
- Seven M777 lightweight Howitzers
- Nine M119 smaller Howitzers
- Multiple variants of crew-served mounted weapons on different vehicles
- 17 Infantry Squad Vehicles
- One HIMARS battery with six trucks
- One MH-6 Little Bird helicopter, a small troop-transport helicopter used by the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment
- One AH-6 Light Attack helicopter, the 160th SOAR’s gunship version of a Little Bird
- One MH-60 helicopter from the 160th
- One MH-60L DAP (Direct Air Penetrator) helicopter, the 160th’s gunship version of the MH-60
- 17 Black Hawk helicopters
- 18 Apache helicopters
- 10 Chinook helicopters
- Four Bell UH-1 Iroquois or ‘Huey’ helicopters
- Two Bell AH-1 Cobra helicopters
- One Hughes OH-6 Cayuse helicopter
- One Renault tank (a French-made light tank primarily used during WWI)
- 34 horses
- An Australian Blue Heeler dog named Doc Holliday, who is part of the 1st Cavalry Division’s Horse Cavalry Detachment
Additionally, 64 aircraft will fly over D.C., including modern-day Chinooks, Apaches, Blackhawks, and historic bombers.
The Army tanks and heavy vehicles are arriving by train from Fort Cavazos, Texas, and will be driven by truck to the staging area in downtown D.C.
The Army estimates it will cost the service between $25 and $45 million. It’s unclear how much the whole-of-government cost will be for extras like D.C. city workers and security personnel with the Department of Homeland Security.
This amount doesn’t include any potential damages that the heavy equipment could cause to DC streets, although Army planners aren’t expecting any, Col. Jess Curry, executive officer to the Army Chief of Engineers, told reporters in May.
“If there’s any damage, the Army will be responsible for any damage and the cost,” Curry said. “This staging area and the routes have been selected to really minimize the risk from weight and damage.”
The only areas of concern are where tracked vehicles might have to make sharp turns or “where the surface of the pavement would typically receive an exaggerated level of stress,” Curry said.
To address those concerns, engineers are putting down metal plates that are similar to those seen on the streets of New York City, which are less than one inch thick and range from four by eight feet to eight by 20 feet.
The Army is sending around 6,200 soldiers to D.C. for the parade. This includes soldiers from six bands, two equestrian units, seven historical formations, vehicle crews, and color guards. Trump will also be giving the oath of enlistment to 250 soldiers who are re-enlisting and other new enlistees.
CORRECTION: 6/10/2025; An earlier version of this article incorrectly described the P-51 Mustang, which is a World War II-era single-seat fighter aircraft
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