Lt. Col. Meghan Smith, a Guard spokesperson, declined to share information about any redeployment on Friday.
For families across the Upper Valley and Vermont, the secrecy creates anxiety. One family member of a deployed Vermont Guard member said they received word their loved one was leaving Puerto Rico but weren’t told the destination.
“We know they moved, but we are not allowed to know where, and contact is way more difficult with our loved ones,” the family member said. “The secrecy concerning both deployments has been stunning.”
After reading media reports about F-35 redeployments, the person now believes Vermont Guard members are stationed in Jordan.
Vermont’s federal delegation learned about the redeployment through reporters. Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Peter Welch, both of whom opposed the Venezuela military action, said Friday they hadn’t heard about Vermonters being shifted to the Middle East.
During a Friday press conference focused on $100 million in federal funds for Vermont, both senators condemned Trump’s military actions while expressing support for the Guard.
“What the president is doing is absolutely abusing his authority as an executive to use military action without consulting with Congress,” Welch said.
Sanders emphasized that “it is Congress that determines whether or not this country goes to war,” not the president.
“We are going to do our best with War Powers Resolution Act to try to control this president from getting us into unnecessary wars,” Sanders said.
The rapid redeployment reflects the administration’s escalating Middle East strategy, with Vermont’s citizen-soldiers again finding themselves at the center of contentious military operations abroad.
