Virginia Guard personnel staging in Fredericksburg, the Richmond metro area, Eastern Shore area, Hampton Roads for possible Hurricane Sandy recovery operations

Photo By Cotton Puryear | Soldiers from the Fredericksburg-based Company A, 116th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team conduct chain saw refresher training Oct. 27 outside the Fredericksburg readiness center. The soldiers are preparing for possible recovery operations in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. The Virginia National Guard has been authorized to bring up to 500 personnel on state active duty, and the Virginia Army Guard and Virginia Defense Force are staging personnel in Fredericksburg, the Richmond metro area, Eastern Shore area and Hampton Roads with personnel and equipment capable of performing high water transport, debris reduction and reconnaissance patrols. The Virginia National Guard has not received any specific mission tasks, but personnel are moving into support areas on Saturday and will be ready for duty as directed by the Virginia Department of Emergency Management. (Photo by Cotton Puryear, Virginia National Guard Public Affairs)  

FREDERICKSBURG, VA, UNITED STATES

10.27.2012

Courtesy Story

Virginia National Guard Public Affairs

SANDSTON, Va. - The Virginia National Guard has been authorized to bring up to 500 personnel on state active duty to prepare for possible recovery operations from Hurricane Sandy.

The Virginia Army Guard and Virginia Defense Force are staging personnel in Fredericksburg, the Richmond metro area, Eastern Shore area and Hampton Roads with personnel and equipment capable of performing high water transport, debris reduction and reconnaissance patrols.

The Virginia National Guard has not received any specific mission tasks. Personnel are moving into support areas on Saturday and will be ready for duty as directed by the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.

Additional personnel from the Virginia Army Guard, Air Guard and VDF personnel are also on duty in Sandston at the Guard’s Joint Operations Center for mission command and sustainment support, as well as Fort Pickett and the Virginia Emergency Operations Center. Additional personnel have been alerted for possible duty and will be held in reserve for possible future missions.

“The key to rapid response is positioning personnel and equipment in key locations before the severe weather hits,” explained Col. Jim Ring, director of joint operations for the Virginia National Guard. “We want to have our personnel staged and ready to go if we are needed by the citizens of the commonwealth.”

The Virginia Guard receives their missions through the Virginia Department of Emergency Management to assist state and local emergency response organizations and is not able to respond to direct support requests from the public, Ring said.

"If the severe weather creates any conditions where people need assistance, they should request assistance through their local dispatcher or 911 service, not directly to the Virginia Guard,” he said. “When appropriate, the request for assistance will be forwarded to us for action.”

Since Sept. 11, 2001, nearly 15,000 soldiers and airmen have mobilized on federal active duty for combat operations, peacekeeping and homeland security missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo and other locations around the world. Those mobilizations have increased the level of experience, maturity and ability to make sound decisions in our troops, Ring said.

Recent Virginia National Guard state active duty missions:

The Virginia National Guard brought more than 200 personnel on state active duty from June 30 to July 4, 2012, to support recovery operations in the wake of severe thunderstorms that struck across Virginia and caused wide-spread power outages. Soldiers distributed water and ice in Bedford, conducted reconnaissance patrols in the Fredericksburg and Lexington areas and soldiers, airmen and members of the Virginia Defense Force provided mission command and sustainment support in Sandston and Fort Pickett.

The Virginia National Guard brought more than 350 personnel on state active duty to assist in the commonwealth’s response to Hurricane Irene from Aug. 27-31, 2011. The Guard began staging forces Aug. 26 at readiness centers in Bowling Green, Emporia and Sandston as well as co-locating with Virginia State Police personnel in the Eastern Shore Region of Virginia near Onancock, and from there soldiers worked with the VSP to clear nearly 350 fallen trees during the hurricane as well as in the immediate response after the storm had passed.

Virginia Guard engineers from the Bowling Green-based 189th Engineer Company, the West Point-based 237th Engineer Company and the Powhatan-based 180th Engineer Company cleared debris fields along the Interstate 64, Interstate 81 and Interstate 95 corridors and in the Eastern Shore area, and transporters from the 1173rd Transportation Company performed commodity distribution and were on standby for possible high-water transport. Soldiers from the 189th and 237th used chain saws to clear trees that had trapped 10 motorists for more than seven hours on Route 5 near the Richmond National Battlefield Park, and soldiers from 1173rd delivered sandbags in Franklin and moved commodity items in Suffolk.

Additional information:

Virginia National Guard personnel assist in the wake of severe thunderstorms (July 11, 2012)
http://vaguard.dodlive.mil/2012/07/11/1588/

Virginia Guard personnel preparing for possible post-storm recovery operations (June 30, 2012)
http://vaguard.dodlive.mil/2012/06/30/1568/

Virginia Guard personnel support Hurricane Irene recovery operations (Aug. 31, 2011)
http://vaguard.dodlive.mil/2011/08/31/120/

• Date Taken: 10.27.2012
• Date Posted: 10.27.2012 22:51
• Story ID: 96857
• Location: FREDERICKSBURG, VA, US