Photo By David Lipp | Capt. Shawn Flemmer (foreground), of Fargo, N.D., and Staff Sgt. Ryan Hartl, of...... read more read more
Subscribe
FARGO, N.D. — As flood operations spread out from concentrated areas and shrink to multiple smaller areas across the region, the North Dakota National Guard also is transitioning. At 6 p.m. today, the Guard will convert from having two major task forces — one in Bismarck for western North Dakota and one in Fargo for the eastern part of the state — to six Regional Response Platforms, or RRPs.
“As the requests for National Guard assistance to flood-affected counties decreases, the Regional Response Platforms allow remaining Guard missions to be regionally run while reducing overhead costs to the state, which are only required during a large-scale Guard response,” said Lt. Col. Brent Naslund, director of military support.
Task Force commanders informed emergency managers of the shift yesterday while ensuring them that the response and service they’ve come to expect from their North Dakota National Guard will continue.
“The process for requesting support through WebEOC will remain the same. The established liaison officer relationship will remain in place, as well, and I encourage you to continue to utilize this asset,” said Col. Steve Tabor, Joint Task Force-East commander, in a letter to emergency managers throughout eastern North Dakota. “This shift in command and control structure will in no way degrade the North Dakota National Guard’s ability to respond with the required resources necessary to provide continued assistance to the citizens of North Dakota during ongoing 2011 flood operations.”
The Joint Task Force-East area will now be managed by two RRPs.
The 1st Battalion, 188th Air Defense Artillery Regiment out of Grand Forks, N.D., will support flood operations in Pembina, Grand Forks, Walsh and Cavalier counties through the new RRP there. Guardsmen in those counties are staffing a quick response force team in Walhalla, and a dozen Guardsmen each are patrolling dikes in Drayton, Pembina and Neche.
As rural areas in southeastern North Dakota continue to be plagued by floodwaters, the 141st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade is stepping in to provide another RRP, which will cover Steele, Traill, Cass, Richland, Ransom and Sargent counties.
Currently, the Guard has three quick response force teams in Cass County. The teams, based in Harwood, Davenport and Kindred, have supplies and vehicles necessary for emergency flood response. A half-dozen Guardsmen also are helping with dike patrol in Kindred. In Ransom County, more than 40 Guardsmen are in Lisbon providing a quick response force team and dike patrol. Two Guardsmen in the county also patrol dikes in Fort Ransom at night to allow residents to rest.
Task Force-West, which has been in Bismarck and commanded by Col. Michael Aberle, will now divide into four RRPs. The 164th Engineer Battalion, of Minot, will manage region 1A, which covers much of western and northwestern North Dakota. There are no longer active flood operations in the 17 counties managed by the RRP, but a liaison officer continues to closely monitor the situation for quick response should the Guard be needed.
An RRP in Bismarck will be managed by 68th Troop Command and manage any flood operations for nine surrounding counties. Like Minot, the situation there is quiet for now.
The 136th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion handles another RRP in Devils Lake, and is closely monitoring the situation with the ever-rising Devils Lake, as well as the situation in 10 surrounding counties.
The sixth RRP, in Valley City, is managed by the 231st Brigade Support Battalion, and includes flood missions in Barnes, Stutsman, Logan, Lamoure, McIntosh, Dickey and Kidder counties. About 160 Guardsmen continue to provide support in Valley City through 24/7 dike patrols as well as quick response force teams.
All six RRPs throughout the state will be operational this evening and remain ready for any response until flood operations cease. Since the units managing the RRPs are normally based in those locations, normal operations will continue when there are no ongoing flood missions.
“The Regional Response Platform concept is normal operating procedure for the North Dakota National Guard response to emergencies,” Naslund said. “This current change is nothing more than a normal transition, designed to decentralize command and control of Guard units working in support of local authorities where centralized command is no longer required to meet local needs.”
The last time RRPs were activated in support of the state was during the blizzard that struck North Dakota March 11-12.
| Date Taken: | 04.22.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 04.22.2011 15:29 |
| Story ID: | 69193 |
| Location: | FARGO, ND, US |
| Web Views: | 139 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, National Guard Transitions Forces as Flood Operations Continue, by David Lipp, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT