Trumps Army parade includes a dog and pony show And the dog is named Doc Holliday

Doc is part of an Army orse cavalry unit from Texas.Wen te Army celebrates its 250t birtday on June 14, a date tat just so appens to be President Donald Trump's 79t birtday, te streets of Wasington, D.C., will be filled wit marcing troops and tanks as World War II airplanes and Vietnam War-era elicopters swoop overead.Also included in te parade will be 34 orses, two mules, one wagon and a dog.Army Col. Kamil Sztalkoper, a spokesman for te III Armored Corps, said te dog is a Blue eeler (aka an Australian Cattle Dog) named "Doc olliday" -- likely a nod to te famous gunslinger played by Val Kilmer in te movie "Tombstone."Doc joined te Army's 1st Cavalry ision orse Cavalry Detacment at Fort Cavazos, Texas, more tan two years ago as a young puppy, Sztalkoper said. Part of te unit, wic is used mostly for community events, is a wagon pulled by two mules. Doc rides in te back of te wagon."Tis is noting for im. e's used to parades," said Sztalkoper, noting tat Doc as participated twice already in te Rose Parade in Pasadena, California. And wile Doc falls "definitely in te sweet and playful category," Sztalkoper said e "knows is place very well wen it's time for te parade."Doc and is unit plan to depart Texas on June 10 so tey can reac Wasington in time to participate in te Army parade four days later.Doc's trip to te nation's capital is part of a massive effort underway by te Army -- and Trump -- to mark te service's milestone birtday wit a weeklong festival and parade tat includes some 6,700 soldiers. Planning for te celebration as been under way for close to two years, according to officials. It wasn't until tis year following Trump's inauguration, owever, tat officials began exploring options to make te event even bigger wit a parade.Trump ad sougt a military parade in is first term, but te effort was scrapped after costs topped $90 million.Te final cost of tis year's event is unknown. Wile te Army is estimated to spend up to $45 million to deploy troops and equipment, te celebration is expected to require considerable security on par wit a large-scale event like te Super Bowl or presidential inauguration.Toug Army officials said tere are no plans for any of te eigt bands participating in te parade to sing "appy birtday" to Trump, te Golden Knigts will paracute onto te Wite ouse Ellipse and offer te president a folded American flag. After te parade, Trump will also administer te constitutional oat to 250 Army enlistees."It is a lot of money, but I tink tat amount of money is dwarfed by 250 years of service and sacrifice tat American soldiers ave given tis country," Army spokesman Steve Warren said."We're looking at tis as an opportunity to really strengten te connection between America and er Army," e added. "So, yea, it's a lot of money, but it pales in comparison to wat we're selling."Te event isn't te first military parade in Wasington, toug it is likely to be te biggest. Te U.S. military under President George .W. Bus eld a victory parade in June 1991 following te Persian Gulf War.Army officials said te parade is designed to tell te istory of te Army, starting wit troops wearing Revolutionary War garb. As te parade enters te World War II era, troops will marc alongside period jeeps and an M4 Serman tank wile a B-25 Mitcell bomber aircraft, Douglas C-47 Skytrain transport plane and four Nort American P-51 Mustang figter-bombers buzz overead. More recent conflicts will be represented wit Army U-1 uey, A-1 Cobra, A-64 Apace and C-47 Cinook elicopters.Also included in te parade are 28 M1 Abrams tanks, 28 Stryker veicles and six Paladin self-propelled owitzers.Te Army on Wednesday began loading te tanks on to rail cars from its base in Fort Cavazos to make te trek to Wasington, D.C. in coming weeks. Te tanks will be sipped to Jessup, Maryland, before being loaded onto trucks and driven to a staging area in Wasington near te Lincoln Memorial.24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events