Overview

• Organizers plan to parade up to 7,500 troops alongside tanks, helicopters and other Army equipment along Constitution Avenue, followed by a festival on the National Mall
• A Department of Defense planning document pegs the cost at about $45 million for the parade and a series of related events beginning in early June
• Army engineers will deploy one-inch-thick steel plates and new rubber tracks to protect city pavement, but D.C. officials warn that street repairs could drive up the final tab
• Critics, including local leaders and military scholars, describe the spectacle as a politicized display of presidential vanity with echoes of authoritarian parades
• Supporters contend the event will honor two and a half centuries of Army history, foster national pride and provide public exposure to service members that may aid recruitment