Photo By 1st Sgt. Jessica Barnett | Kansas Army National Guard engineers wait in line for the DEERS station while...... read more read more
SALINA, Kan. - A joint task force of approximately 75 engineers from the Kansas National Guard deployed to Colorado Oct. 16 to aid in rebuilding efforts of highways damaged by recent flooding in that state. Nearly a year's worth of rain fell in a matter of hours causing the devastation.
The Kansas National Guardsmen deployed Oct. 16 from Salina, Kan., and reported to the Colorado National Guard armory in Boulder, Colo. They are expected to be deployed for approximately three weeks. The equipment for the mission is being supplied by the Colorado National Guard.
The Guardsmen are from the 891st Engineer Battalion (Iola), 226th Engineer Company (Augusta), 242nd Engineer Company (Coffeyville), 772nd Engineer Company (Pittsburg), 190th Air Refueling Wing Civil Engineering Squadron (Topeka), and 184th Intelligence Wing Civil Engineering Squadron (Wichita).
"Our Guardsmen are always ready and willing to respond when a disaster hits, either at home or to help our neighbors in other states," said Maj. Gen. Lee Tafanelli, the adjutant general. "Just last year, some of our helicopter crews responded to assist in combating wildfires in Colorado, and I know our friends out there would be just as willing to come to our aid, if we ever need them."
The joint team of Army and Air Kansas Guardsmen will be manning bulldozers and dump trucks as they pick up on repairs where the Utah National Guard left off along U.S. Highway 36 leading up to Rocky Mount National Park. The Tennessee National Guard is scheduled to relieve the Kansas Guard engineers.
“We will be assisting (Colorado Department of Transportation) on the roads,” said Maj. John Adam, mission commander and a member of the 184th Intelligence Wing, Civil Engineering Squadron. “We’re working about a 25-mile stretch of road on Highway 36 and Highway 7. This is extremely important as (Colorado citizens) can’t go back and forth between Lyons and Estes Park so we hope that our efforts will assist in doing that.”
Conducting domestic missions after a disaster is just one of many reasons National Guardsmen serve in their branch of military.
“This is just one way of helping my country, civilians and the state of Colorado,” said Senior Airman Sebastian Adame, a member of the 190th Air Refueling Wing, Civil Engineering Squadron. “It gives me a sense of pride and is why I joined the military.”
The assistance to Colorado was arranged by the Kansas Division of Emergency Management, a division of the Adjutant General’s Department, through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact.
EMAC is a multi-state, mutual aid agreement that facilitates interstate assistance in response and recovery operations during a disaster.
Kansas Guardsmen have deployed to other states under the EMAC agreement to battle forest fires, aid in recovery after hurricanes and for other disasters.
“If we can get out there and help other communities, plus do our skill that we were trained through the military to do,” said Master Sgt. Randy Rice, supervisor of the Joint Operations Center, “that is a win-win situation for the service members because they can stay proficient in their job while helping a community to do that.”
| Date Taken: | 10.15.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 10.23.2013 18:34 |
| Story ID: | 115622 |
| Location: | SALINA, KS, US |
| Hometown: | COFFEYVILLE, KS, US |
| Hometown: | IOLA, KS, US |
| Hometown: | PITTSBURG, KS, US |
| Hometown: | TOPEKA, KS, US |
| Hometown: | WICHITA, KS, US |
| Web Views: | 265 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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