{"id":299086,"date":"2024-10-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-13T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=299086"},"modified":"2024-10-14T03:43:53","modified_gmt":"2024-10-14T03:43:53","slug":"state-national-guards-help-florida-guard-respond-to-storms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=299086","title":{"rendered":"State National Guards Help Florida Guard Respond to Storms"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n New Jersey Army National Guard Soldiers assigned to 42nd Regional Support Group arrive at Camp Blanding Joint Training Center in Starke, Fla., Oct. 11, 2024. Following the impact of Hurricane Milton, more than 3,000 National Guardsmen from various states volunteered to provide support to Florida. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Brooke Keisler)
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CAMP BLANDING JOINT TRAINING CENTER, Fla. \u2013 In times of need, the National Guard stands ready to assist. Whether it\u2019s Army or Air National Guard units, they are always prepared to respond. After enduring three hurricanes, Florida called on National Guard units from neighboring states for support.<\/p>\n

For the first time, following Hurricane Milton, the South Carolina Army National Guard took on the role of command and control for a designated area of operations in Florida as a part of the Emergency Management Assistance Compact.<\/p>\n

The command element manages operations in its assigned area, but it doesn\u2019t work independently. Each command team coordinates closely with the Headquarters Joint Operations Center to ensure that all field units operate with a shared understanding of the mission.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a command and control unit, we\u2019re a higher headquarters,\u201d said Command Sgt. Maj. Chris Williams, 678th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, South Carolina National Guard. \u201cWe give information to the downrange forces, and they report back up to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following the impact of Hurricane Milton, more than 3,000 National Guardsmen from more than 20 states volunteered to provide crucial support to Florida. These missions included search and rescue, route clearance, handing out food and water, and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir help has been extremely beneficial,\u201d said U.S. Army Lt. Col Arthur Gaines, Florida Joint Force Headquarters deputy director of military support. \u201cThe reason we sent out such a large call is because we were preparing for a Category 5 storm and, fortunately for us, it did not impact Florida to that scale.\u201d<\/p>\n

One strength of the National Guard\u2019s response lies in the fact that each Guardsman is embedded in their community, bringing a variety of backgrounds and abilities in addition to their military expertise.<\/p>\n

\u201dWe have a chaplain, a lawyer, police officers, and judges,\u201d said U.S. Army Col. Larry Saunders, commander, 678th Air Defense Artillery Brigade. \u201cWe have a host of different civilian occupations represented here, all coming together to do a common mission in uniform.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their primary area of operation covered a four-county region impacted by Hurricane Milton. The teams are expected to be there for more than a week.<\/p>\n

This operation enabled collaboration between the Army National Guard EMAC units and Florida Air National Guard, enhancing their interoperability and joint effectiveness.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been seamless,\u201d said Saunders. \u201cThe Florida Air National Guard have been fantastic to work with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such opportunities strengthen cooperation between Air and Army National Guard units across states, allowing them to support each other more effectively in times of future need.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody\u2019s had a great attitude and jumped into the fight,\u201d said Saunders.\u201cIt\u2019s difficult for an individual state to do all that needs to be done on their own. When our sister states call, we come and help.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more National Guard news<\/a><\/p>\n

National Guard Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n

National Guard X<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Jersey Army National Guard Soldiers assigned to 42nd Regional Support Group arrive at Camp Blanding Joint Training Center in Starke, Fla., Oct. 11, 2024. Following the impact of Hurricane Milton, more than 3,000 National Guardsmen from various states volunteered to provide support to Florida. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Brooke Keisler) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299088,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-299086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=299086"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":299089,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299086\/revisions\/299089"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/299088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=299086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=299086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=299086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}