New York National Guard mobilizes 260 Soldiers and Airmen for storm response

Photo By Master Sgt. Raymond Drumsta | New York National Guard leaders at the Joint Operation Center in Latham get the situation update Monday morning, Jan. 26, as 260 New York Army and Air National Guard members were called out to assist in the New York State response to a massive blizzard hitting New York City, Long Island and the Hudson Valley. At the direction of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, New York National Guard Initial Response Forces were stood up, engineer equipment and Soldiers were sent to Long Island, and high mobility vehicles were positioned at emergency medical service locations in New York City. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. 1st Class Raymond Drumsta/Released)  

NEW YORK , NY, UNITED STATES

01.26.2015

Story by Eric Durr 

New York National Guard

NEW YORK- As blizzard warnings were being issued for the northeast this morning, the New York National Guard put 260 Soldiers and Airmen on duty to assist in New York’s response to the storm at the direction of New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

Army and Air National Guard units on Long Island, in New York City, and in the Hudson Valley were ordered to stand up their Initial Response Forces. Meanwhile the 204th Engineer Battalion—headquartered in Binghamton with elements in the Hudson Valley and New York’s Southern Tier counties-- was directed to send snow moving equipment and personnel to Long island.

Initial response forces were stood up at:

•F.S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base at Westhampton Beach on Long Island;

•Farmingdale Armed Forces Reserve Center at Farmingdale on Long Island;

•The Manor Road Armory complex on Staten island;

•The Peekskill Armory in the Hudson Valley;
And Stewart Air National Guard Base at Newburgh in the Hudson Valley.

Each Initial Response Force consists of 20 Soldiers and Airmen with five Humvees. The teams are prepared for 24-hour operations so 10 personnel will be on duty with each response force around the clock.

The response forces can conduct traffic control in support of local police agencies or move critical personnel and supplies as required.

And additional 25 vehicles and to 50 personnel have been assigned to support Fire Department New York emergency medical service locations in Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. These military vehicles are on call to help move people and equipment as required by civilian first responders.

The 204th Engineer Company dispatched four front end loaders, 10 dump trucks, and seven small skid steer front end loaders, along with operators, to the Armed Forces Reserve Center in Farmingdale. The Soldiers and equipment will be hand call if needed to assist in clearing snow.

Seventeen of the Soldiers came from the 152nd Engineer Company in Buffalo. In November the Soldiers of the 152nd were among the first New York National Guard units to respond to a massive lake effect storm which hit Erie County on Nov. 19, 2014.

The New York National Guard stood up its Joint Operation Center in Latham to coordinate the response, while dispatching liaison officers to New York City’s Office of Emergency Management and county and regional emergency management centers in Nassau and Suffolk County on Long Island and in the Hudson Valley.

The New York National Guard’s Joint Task Force Empire Shield, a security augmentation force operating in transportation hubs in New York City remains on duty at LaGuardia Airport and JFK International Airport and at Pennsylvania Station, Grand Central Station and the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) terminal.

• Date Taken: 01.26.2015
• Date Posted: 01.26.2015 11:26
• Story ID: 152707
• Location: NEW YORK , NY, US