WASHINGTON — The radio crackles to life as the vehicle eases into traffic, weaving through familiar streets under the glow of streetlights and Metro station entrances. From the passenger seat, U.S. Army Lt. Col. Robert Riddle scans sidewalks, stairwells and faces moving past the windshield, narrating his thoughts almost as quickly as the city unfolds around him.
Riddle, an Oklahoma National Guard Soldier and commander ofTask Force Thunder, is midway through a mic’d-up ride-along supporting the D.C. Safe and Beautiful mission. The patrol is routine by design, but the conversations reveal how leadership, presence and judgment intersect on the streets of the nation’s capital.
“We want to look like we belong here,” Riddle said as the patrol approaches a Metro hub. “We want to be a deterrent to people with bad intentions, but approachable to everyone else.”
That balance — confident without being intimidating — is something Riddle looks for whenever he visits his Soldiers on patrol. He watches posture first, then awareness: eyes moving, stairwells checked, backs never left exposed. It is quiet professionalism, learned quickly by a task force built from dozens of military occupational specialties rather than law enforcement alone.
“I have zero military police in my formation,” Riddle said. “I’ve got supply clerks, artillery Soldiers, engineers, infantry — all different backgrounds. Watching how fast they adapted and became a team has been phenomenal.”
For many Oklahoma Guardsmen, this mission marks their first time serving outside their home state. More than 80 percent of the task force had never deployed or supported a mission of this scale before arriving in Washington. What they found, Riddle said, was a mission defined less by enforcement and more by engagement.
“They didn’t realize how much they would be able to help until they got here,” he said. “Changing a flat tire. Helping someone who fell. Performing CPR. Administering Narcan. Interrupting situations before they escalate. Those moments add up.”
One moment in particular still stands out to Riddle. While patrolling near Union Station, Soldiers were approached by a young woman who identified herself as a victim of sex trafficking. She did not seek out police or security officers nearby — she walked directly to the Guardsmen.
“We didn’t perform CPR. We didn’t detain anyone,” Riddle said. “We were just there. And for whatever reason, she trusted our Soldiers enough to step forward and save herself.”
That trust, he said, is a measure of success that cannot be quantified.
Throughout the evening, Riddle’s conversations with Soldiers are casual but deliberate. He checks morale, equipment and awareness, often greeting patrols with his signature line — “better than terrific” — before stepping back to observe how they operate when they think no one is watching.
“If I show up and they’re happy to see me, that usually means things are going well,” he said. “It tells me morale is high and the mission makes sense to them.”
Riddle believes leadership means sharing the same environment as the Soldiers he commands. He rides along, walks posts and stays late, believing credibility is built through presence.
“I was enlisted for 17 years,” he said. “I’m not going to ask them to do something I wouldn’t do myself.”
As the patrol moves between neighborhoods, Riddle points out how patterns change with time of day — where crowds gather after school, which Metro entrances become busy at night, and how patrol posture adjusts as restaurants and bars fill.
“This city changes by the hour,” he said. “You have to understand the rhythm if you’re going to protect the space.”
The radio remains mostly quiet as the vehicle slows, then stops. Outside, a small group of Guardsmen stands watch, scanning the flow of people with practiced calm. Riddle nods, satisfied.
“They’re doing it right,” he said. “They look the part. They’re alert. They’re approachable.”
As the ride-along winds down, Riddle reflects on what the mission has shown him — not just about Washington, but about his Soldiers.
“They care,” he said. “They care about this city, about the people in it, and about doing the right thing even when no one’s watching.”
In a mission built on visibility and trust, Riddle said that may be the most important outcome of all.