Dike and Pump Patrols in Georgetown

Courtesy Photo | Spc. Andrew Gallagher, a Minnesota Army National Guard Soldier with the 2-136 Headquarters Company from Moorhead, Minn., checks a water gauge marker during a recent dike patrol in Georgetown, Minn. on March 21. National Guard Soldiers patrolled Georgetown around the clock for leaks in the dikes and measured changes in water levels as part of a larger ongoing operation in support of Flood Fight 2010.  

GEORGETOWN, MN, UNITED STATES

03.23.2010

Courtesy Story

Minnesota National Guard

TSgt Brett. R. Ewald
148th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

GEORGETOWN, Minn. - A small number of Minnesota Army National Guard Soldiers are posted in the town of Georgetown, Minn., due to flooding along Minnesota's Red River Valley. The Soldiers are members of Headquarters and Headquarters Company of the Second Combined Arms Battalion, 136th Infantry (2-136 CAB) out of Moorhead, Minn.

The 14 Soldiers in Georgetown are on 12-hour shifts where they patrol the dikes and monitor the pump stations in and around the city. The foot patrol path winds for about one and one-half miles along the western periphery of the town. The dikes, which are long, linear earthen berms surrounding the town on its perimeter, are both pre-existing and new. Earthen dikes are the first defense for numerous towns, homes and farmsteads dotting the Red River Valley.

Georgetown utilizes U.S. Highway 75, a mostly north and south stretch of roadway, as part of its eastern dike defense. Every two hours the Soldiers use one of their Humvee's to patrol this stretch of dike along the city limits.

The HHC Soldiers have been in Georgetown for over five days. While temporarily there the Town Hall is their Command Post and home. Many Soldiers eat the home-cooked meals regularly provided by town residents although the troops are issued Meals Ready to Eat.

These, and over 285 Soldiers and Airmen, are part of the Flood Fight 2010, the Minnesota National Guard's flood support and relief efforts along the Red and Minnesota River Valleys.

• Date Taken: 03.23.2010
• Date Posted: 03.26.2010 13:01
• Story ID: 47258
• Location: GEORGETOWN, MN, US