MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin National Guard Soldiers assigned to the 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team completed nearly two weeks of support for flood mitigation efforts in Southern Wisconsin, April 28.
The mobilization began April 16, one day after Gov. Tony Evers declared a state of emergency following record- setting severe weather across the state. Significant rainfall coupled with upstream snow melt caused major Southern Wisconsin waterways to reach flood stage, risking the overspill of levee banks and threatening critical transportation corridors.
To efficiently support civil authorities with flood response, the Wisconsin National Guard established a domestic operations joint task force dubbed Task Force-Sandman. The task force included 83 service members, the majority of which were traditional Guardsmen assigned to the 32nd.
“The purpose of the operation was to protect life and safeguard property threatened by severe weather,” said Maj. Gen. Mathew Strub, Wisconsin’s adjutant general. “We achieved this by augmenting the capabilities of first responders to ensure measures were in place to protect Wisconsin residents and property.”
Within 19 hours of initial notification, Soldiers drawn from five different units had assembled at the Columbia County Highway Department facility in Wyocena. Following a 48-hour continuous operation, they had produced and palletized over 35,000 sandbags – 17,000 of which they then transported to Rock County.
Employing traditional Army troop leading procedures, leaders from the task force engaged directly with Rock County civil authorities to understand exactly where their support was most needed.
With multiple communities experiencing flooding, they aligned their personnel, equipment and supplies to carry out simultaneous sandbagging operations in the Towns of Janesville, Milton, Rock and Fulton – during which they produced over 2,700 additional sandbags.
“Our leaders on the ground continuously adjusted to changing conditions, solving problems and maintaining momentum across all locations,” said Capt. Colin Kenny, officer- in- charge of the state active-duty operation. “Task Force Sandman was able to move quickly, stay coordinated, and deliver meaningful support where it mattered most.”
The task force’s efforts supported multiple state, county and local partners throughout Wisconsin to include the Columbia County Highway Department, Columbia County Emergency Management, the City of Janesville, Rock County Emergency Management, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and Wisconsin Emergency Management.
While overseeing the sandbag generation mission in Columbia County, Kenny relayed that supporting local communities is one of the most important things a Guard member can do, noting that the headquarters facility for the 132nd Support Battalion Soldiers involved was only a few miles away.
“It’s pretty important to us that [our mission] is right here in our back yard,” he said. “We get to directly support the community that our armory is in, and that’s really special.”
The operation included three phases, beginning with preparation and deployment, when activated service members assembled, performed readiness checks and relocated to their respective mission locations. In phase two, the task force conducted response operations, in which Soldiers directly supported interagency partners during flood mitigation missions coordinated through the Wisconsin National Guard Joint Operations Center. In the final phase of recovery and redeployment, the Soldiers were released from state active duty and returned home.
For Spc. Donald Castine, an automated logistics specialist for the 132nd Brigade Support Battalion, Task Force-Sandman was his first experience mobilizing for a domestic operations mission.
“The primary reason I joined the National Guard is to support the state to the best of my ability,” Castine said. “I believe this mission has been the perfect opportunity to begin that journey.”