Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Mary Junell | Command Sgt. Maj. Brian Webb, the senior enlisted leader for the North Carolina...... read more read more
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The North Carolina National Guard (NCNG) embedded more liaison officers in North Carolina Emergency Management (NCEM) offices across the state, April 13, 2020.
The liaisons act as a direct line to NCNG resources available to support NCEM’s response to COVID-19.
It has been several weeks since many Americans began working from home, schooling from home, and just simply staying home in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19.
While people retreat to their homes, Guardsmen across N.C.. including the embedded liaisons, have stepped up and answered the call to support their state.
Hundreds of North Carolina National Guardsmen are scattered across the to assist N.C. Emergency Management (NCEM) in their response to the pandemic.
Master Sgt. James Storms, the liaison officer at the NCEM Eastern Branch office said most people end up in the National Guard because they wanted to do something more.
“When the rest of the nation is stepping back and holding up, we’re the ones stepping forward,” Storms said. “That’s a personality trait that is in most of your Soldiers and that attitude rolls over into responses like this.”
Liaison officers like Storms are an integral part of the NCEM teams, providing a direct line to access the capabilities the NCNG can provide, including the Guardsmen themselves who are serving in the same communities they live in.
“As Guardsmen we’re citizen-Soldiers, so we have a stake in what goes on in our own communities,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Brian Webb, a liaison officer at one of the NCEM branch offices in Central North Carolina. “We bring our civilian skill sets into a military environment and skill set. That dual-hattedness plays a tremendous part in our success.”
One of the assets the N.C. Guard provides, which has also been useful during hurricane and winter storm responses, is the use of large trucks and qualified drivers.
“Instead of trying to contract and find those individuals and vehicles, we have them on staff.” Storms said.
The Guard and NCEM have an ongoing relationship that has been strengthened over the years while working together, helping the COVID-19 response to run a little smoother.
“You don’t want to have to make those introductions during the middle of an event,” Storms said. “We built that partnership, and it is truly a partnership. there are assists that they have that we don’t have access to and vice versa. it works as a team, it really does.”
Dianne Cutis, the eastern branch manager for NCEM said that although the event is unprecedented, working with the NCNG in hazardous environments is not.
“Having a partnership with the National Guard means we can tackle anything,” Curtis said. “The planning is basically the same; we have an issue, we apply a solution. The partnership we’ve already built with them years and years over the hurricane seasons and the other events have made us a solid effective unit.”
Like many of the guardsmen on duty now, Webb, who is also the senior enlisted leader for 60th Troop Command, has been working with NCEM during hurricanes and winter storms for years, and although this pandemic is unprecedented, he said for his family, it’s more of the same.
“When a hurricane happens, most people stay home; I leave,” said Webb, who has worked with NCEM for more than 10 years. “This is nothing unusual for us.”
The N.C. National Guard stands ready with N.C. Emergency Management, N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, State Emergency Response Team partners, and federal and local agencies to protect the lives and property of N.C. citizens.
| Date Taken: | 04.16.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 04.16.2020 20:24 |
| Story ID: | 367621 |
| Location: | RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 62 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, N.C. Guardsmen embed with Emergency Management in response to COVID-19, by SFC Mary Junell, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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