184th ESC Assists FEMA – USVI Relief

Photo By Jovi Prevot | Mississippi Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Daniel E. Lofton, a utilities equipment repairer, with the 3656th Maintenance Company operates a forklift to load water, food, and supplies onto a FEMA truck for distribution to locals on October 3, 2017, at Cyril E. King Airport, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Lofton is part of Task Force Crazy Train, a unit established by the Mississippi Army National Guard in response to Hurricanes Irma and Maria to provide relief to affected areas of the U.S. Virgin Islands. (Mississippi National Guard photo by Spc. Jovi Prevot, 102d Public Affairs Detachment)  

ST. THOMAS, VIRGIN ISLANDS, US

10.04.2017

Story by Spc. Jovi Prevot 

102d Public Affairs Detachment

ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands - Soldiers of the 184th Sustainment Command are among more than 200 Mississippi National Guard service members assisting the Federal Emergency Management Agency with supply transportation operations in the U.S. Virgin Islands after the devastation caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

The National Guard unit, headquartered in Laurel, Mississippi, is assigned to Task Force Crazy Train (TFCT), the Mississippi Army National Guard response to the hurricanes.

“The Guard was established to help out the community. We were established for the home front,” said Sgt. 1st Class Brad O. McCormick, a transportation management coordinator, with 184th Sustainment Command. “Be it from an enemy or natural disaster, it is our job to protect America.”

The Guardsmen are supporting FEMA operations. The disaster response organization is providing the supplies and manpower, with other agencies supplementing them.

“FEMA provides food, water, and tarps here to help the people make their lives a little easier and also to help the survivors move along,” said Rodney Harris, deputy logistics chief, Region 10, Federal Emergency Management Agency. ”I joined FEMA to help people, and this is one of the reasons why we are here as FEMA - to make sure that the people here in St. Thomas get what they need. Without the help of a lot of the federal agencies, along with the local agencies here in St. Thomas, a lot of this wouldn’t be possible."

The Guardsmen of TFCT are one of the agencies assisting this mission. The task force is a unit comprised of Soldiers from various units throughout the state, and each has it's specific mission.

“Technically speaking, our unit is all about logistics. We push commodities, we get them where they need to be, when they need to be there,” McCormick said. “Our unit’s focus is to get the beans and the bullets to the troops in the field, we track them from destination to destination, that’s our job."

But that's a wartime mission, here it is slightly different.

"We are here working with FEMA loading and unloading commodities," McCormick said. "We are also tracking what’s going on the trucks so FEMA can track the supplies as well."

The Guardsmen are gaining more than just job skills.

“We are out here working really hard with our mission, but we are gaining different experiences also, meeting the locals, working with the Virgin Islands Guardsmen, just getting to know the culture - and that’s my favorite part,” McCormick said. “This is a real world mission, yes, but because it is similar to a deployment in the workload, we can use that to help train Soldiers for future missions.”

• Date Taken: 10.04.2017
• Date Posted: 10.05.2017 18:48
• Story ID: 250758
• Location: ST. THOMAS, VI