Courtesy Photo | Maryland National Guard soldiers from units across the state, seen here Aug. 28,...... read more read more
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ARLINGTON, Va. - With about 7,675 citizen-soldiers and -airmen from 18 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico responding Aug. 28, three capabilities enhanced the National Guard's contribution to the joint state and federal support of civil authorities tackling Hurricane Irene.
The National Guard Bureau's new 24-hour, 365-day National Guard Coordination Center here boosted coordination and communication between the Army and Air National Guard and local, state and federal partners, Guard officials said.
The appointment of dual-status commanders to lead state National Guard and federal forces sped up response, and the deployment of strategically placed force packages ahead of the storm increased readiness, officials said.
The NGCC, dual-status commanders and pre-placed force packages are relatively new capabilities born from lessons learned from past natural and man-made disasters. What individual Guard members were doing on the ground and in the air today contributing to the whole-of-government response came from the almost 375-year-old tradition born when New England farmers set down their plows and picked up their muskets before Independence.
According to NGCC reports:
Guard members cleared debris and performed high-water search and rescue missions in Connecticut. They helped transportation officials control traffic in the District of Columbia. They handed out cots and supplies in Delaware.
They flew helicopters from Alaska, Florida, Mississippi, New Mexico and Ohio to standby in the affected region for search and rescue, damage assessment, transportation or other missions.
Citizen-soldiers and -airmen provided command and control support in Maine; filled sandbags and assessed damage in Massachusetts; performed search and rescue and provided security and transportation in North Carolina; provided shelter in New Jersey.
The National Guard provided maritime transportation to the islands of Vieques and Culebra in Puerto Rico; it supported communications in Rhode Island; it provided engineers to local authorities in Virginia.
Throughout the Eastern Seaboard, Guard members helped neighbors hit by Irene - such as the 129 New York Guard members sent in speed boats to help rescue 21 people stranded by floodwaters in an upstate New York hotel this afternoon.
About 101,000 Guard members were available in the affected region, the Department of Defense reported, and the NGCC worked with the states and other federal agencies to ensure the right numbers reached the right places at the right time.
"As Irene approached the United States, our NGCC was coordinating with the states, territories and the District of Columbia; the Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Northern Command to ensure the most effective National Guard support to civil authorities and enable us to bring the full benefit of our size, skills, training, experience, command and communications infrastructure and legal flexibility to the whole-of-government response to the storm," said Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, the chief of the National Guard Bureau.
"Hurricane Irene demonstrated the vital importance of our new National Guard Coordination Center, which enables us to work seamlessly with our state and federal partners at the first warning of potential disaster."
Among assets coordinated and monitored by the NGCC were force packages that allow Guard officials to strategically position assets to respond to any additional needs states may have.
One example: In Eastover, S.C., the Guard stood up an aerial force package of 17 aircraft - including UH-47 Chinooks, UH-60 Black Hawks, UH-72 Lakotas, OH-58 Kiowas and C-27 Spartans - with about 100 Guard members.
"Assembling and pre-staging ground and air force packages - drawn from Army and Air National Guard assets contributed by multiple states - in strategic locations out of harm's way but near potentially affected areas meant the National Guard stood ready to respond faster than ever to civil authorities' critical needs that might arise in the storm's aftermath." McKinley said.
Finally, the appointment of four dual-status commanders in support of relief efforts, reported by the Defense Department marked the first time the dual commander concept had been so widely implemented in support of a natural disaster.
| Date Taken: | 08.28.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 08.28.2011 18:49 |
| Story ID: | 76083 |
| Location: | ARLINGTON, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 156 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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