Plans for military parade don’t include any tanks

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is proposing to stage a military parade in November with soldiers in historical uniforms and warplanes, but no tanks — a scaled-down version of the grand display President Donald Trump wants, according to two officials familiar with the plan.

Pentagon officials have drafted a memo outlining their plan for a parade in Washington on Veterans Day, the officials said. It was first reported by CNN.

Trump earlier this year asked the Defense Department to plan a parade of the U.S. armed forces to celebrate military strength, much like France’s annual French Bastille Day parade that he and first lady Melania Trump attended in July in Paris as the guests of French President Emmanuel Macron.

The memo suggests not using tanks and other heavy armored vehicles to avoid damaging roads in the capital, an official said. Big, heavy tanks could tear up District of Columbia streets.

Using troops in historical uniforms is meant to celebrate the armed forces rather than display military might, another official said.

But the event will “include a heavy air component at the end of the parade,” meaning lots of airplane flyovers. Older aircraft will be included as available.

The memo from the office of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis offers initial planning guidance to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, whose staff will plan the parade along a route from the White House to the Capitol and integrate it with the city’s annual veterans parade. Northern Command, which oversees U.S. troops in North America, will execute the parade.

It is unclear whether Trump will be satisfied with the Pentagon plan, which one official said is still a work in progress. His budget director, Mick Mulvaney, estimated last month that the parade could cost as much as $30 million.