Photo by Joe in DC

We’re used to seeing plenty of things here in D.C., but a train-load of Bradley Fighting Vehicles sitting by the Fort Totten Metro station on a Tuesday morning might be new to plenty of people. And, it seems, they are—we’ve gotten a few questions from readers as to what these vehicles were doing in D.C.

We first reached out to Metro, which told us that since those are CSX tracks, it would be CSX that would know. So we put in a call to CSX. A spokesperson for the Jacksonville, Fla.-based company confirmed that it was just a routine move of military equipment, one of the many they do that pass through D.C. So, we inquired, where was the stuff coming from, and where was it going? No dice, said the spokesman—he isn’t allowed to say. (They would well be moving south; Bradleys are built at a factory in York, Pa.)

Next up, we tried the D.C. National Guard. The best we got is a chance to leave a voicemail, so we moved up to the next rung—the Pentagon itself. Much to my surprise, the folks in the U.S. Army Office of Public Affairs were very responsive, taking in our query without at the same time ordering a full strike on our modest abodes. (Well, not yet, at least.)

This afternoon, we got a response from them, though it’s somewhat inconclusive. The Bradleys don’t belong to the D.C. National Guard, since it doesn’t have any in its inventory. A public affairs officer was checking to see if they belonged to the Pennsylvania National Guard, but she couldn’t say so definitively.

So, dear readers, we’ve failed you. These Bradley Fighting Vehicles could belong to the army, to some branch of the National Guard or to a D.C. resident amassing a small fighting force for, well, whatever you’d amass a small fighting force for. We don’t know. If we hear more from the folks in the Pentagon, we’ll let you know. If not, just dream up the wildest conspiracy theory you can and go with that.

UPDATE, 1:45 p.m.: We’ve got a lead! From comments on this pic: “These are Bradley Fighting Vehicles. The numbers on the back mean 3rd Infantry Division, 5th Squadron 7th Cavalry. This unit is based at Fort Stewart, Georgia.” Question still remains as to where they were going.

UPDATE, 1:55 p.m.: The DCist i-Team can confirm that these belong to the division in Fort Stewart, Georgia. As to where they are going and why they are going through D.C., the mystery remains—Pentagon only says that CSX decides on routing.

Photo by Joe in DC