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WILSONVILLE, Ore. – The Oregon National Guard has conducted numerous missions throughout the state in response to COVID-19, to include set up and security of the Oregon Medical Station, outdoor tent space for testing at several hospitals, communications support at the unemployment office as well as other state and county emergency operations centers, the primary mission was the distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE).
On March 29, 14 Soldiers from the Oregon Army National Guard (ORARNG) were called by the state of Oregon for a two-week mission to provide support in response to COVID-19. As the pandemic began to rapidly grow, so did the demand for support, ultimately expanding the mission to 183 Soldiers over a period of 79 days.
During the activation, Soldiers of Task Force Assurance completed a total of 2,604 missions, distributing more than 46 million pieces of PPE to all 36 Oregon counties, 9 Tribal Nations, and two Tribal Health Agencies, covering approximately 140,000 miles throughout the state.
Additionally, the ORARNG assisted in shipping 140 ventilators to New York, as well as providing nearly 1 million masks to agricultural workers throughout Oregon.
Despite the ever-evolving situation, Col. Philip DeMontigny, commander, Task Force Assurance, praised the work of the task force. “We did what was required of the state at the time. I think the most important thing is that we know that if we need to flex the guard we can,” DeMontigny said of his team “We can quickly get Soldiers on duty and then throw them whatever, and they're going to make the adjustments.”
ORARNG working alongside state partners helped ensure a rapid and unified response. With support from Oregon Department of Administrative Services (DAS) and the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST), Task Force Assurance distributed PPE acquired through the US National Strategic Reserve, FEMA and the State of Oregon, including face masks, gloves, face shields, gowns, and hand sanitizer.
As delivery trucks arrived full of PPE at the central distribution hub in Wilsonville, Soldiers received, inventoried, and staged tens of millions of pieces of various PPE, which was then allocated to counties, tribes, and medical facilities throughout Oregon. The allocation quantities were based on population density and COVID-19 cases.
DeMontigny also attributed the success of his team to skill sets that are unique to the National Guard. “Regardless of military occupational specialty, the dual status of the National Guard and Reserves allows that opportunity for the civilian skill sets to be utilized within emergency situations”.
These skills, paired with military training in logistics, enabled the task force to adapt quickly, effectively creating a force structure to achieve the mission. In tactical logistics, the Brigade Support Battalion (BSB) supplies the Forward Support Companies (FSCs), who distribute supplies to forces on front lines.
In Task Force Assurance, orders distributed from the Wilsonville central hub were transported throughout seven regional County Assistance Teams (CATs) consisting of approximately 12 Soldiers each, at armories located in key locations across the state. From there they were transported to the end users, similar to distribution in tactical logistics.
With this unique merging of civilian and military knowledge, combined with infrastructure and logistics already in place by the Oregon Military Department, Soldiers of Task Force Assurance were able to get PPE to the end user in as little as 24 hours of the allocation.
In addition to serving the country, the ORARNG stands ready to serve our neighbors, families, and friends in the communities in which we live. This mission in particular has been meaningful to Soldiers as they see the impact of their work on their state and their own communities.
As SGT Juan Denmark, who joined the ORARNG after seven years of Active Duty service, puts it, “We're on the ground level supporting each and every citizen of the state of Oregon, so it's much more personal for me”. This shared mentality across the task force has kept the morale high as Soldiers worked tirelessly to meet the demands of their state.
As the task force handed over the mission to the state, DeMontigny is proud that the team proved their capabilities for future operations.
“This is nothing that was planned. It’s impromptu in the fact that nobody saw this coming. What we bring is, regardless of how modular the mission is, we can create a functioning unit that has a structure. Once that's done, we can quickly adjust to whatever the mission is,” said DeMontigny.
With fire season around the corner and the potential risk of the Cascadia subduction zone, DeMontigny has confidence in the ORARNG readiness for future operations, “I'm glad that the task force could prove our value to the state as a response to domestic operations”.
| Date Taken: | 06.23.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 06.23.2020 22:18 |
| Story ID: | 372710 |
| Location: | SALEM, OR, US |
| Web Views: | 138 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Oregon National Guard completes PPE mission, by SSG Erin J. Quirke, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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