{"id":304698,"date":"2024-10-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-18T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=304698"},"modified":"2024-10-19T12:02:13","modified_gmt":"2024-10-19T12:02:13","slug":"national-guard-leaders-see-guardsmen-answer-the-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=304698","title":{"rendered":"National Guard Leaders See Guardsmen Answer the Call"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n <\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>

\n
\n
\n Air Force Gen. Steven Nordhaus, chief, National Guard Bureau, meets with Florida National Guard leaders and Guardsmen mobilized in Tampa, Florida, to help communities affected by Hurricane Milton Oct. 16, 2024. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. 1st Class Zach Sheely)
\n (Photo Credit: Sgt. 1st Class Zach Sheely)<\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n VIEW ORIGINAL<\/a>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

MORGANTON, N.C. \u2013 The National Guard\u2019s top officer ceremoniously assumed his new role Tuesday. His first order of business Wednesday was to spend time with National Guardsmen supporting communities affected by Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton.<\/p>\n

Air Force Gen. Steven Nordhaus, chief, National Guard Bureau, and Senior Enlisted Advisor to the CNGB Tony Whitehead traveled to Tampa, Florida, and western North Carolina to visit some of the several thousand Guardsmen activated there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you for what you\u2019re doing to help the citizens of our nation,\u201d Nordhaus told every Guardsman he spoke with. \u201cYou are part of the National Guard\u2019s elite forces ready to defend our freedoms and respond when others need help the most.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida\u2019s Big Bend Sept. 26. The storm carved a 500-mile path of destruction through Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee. Communities were cut off, homes flooded, and millions had no power.<\/p>\n

The North Carolina National Guard was activated by the state\u2019s governor Sept. 25 and prepared to respond at the request of state and local agencies. Still, the situation in western North Carolina became especially dire.<\/p>\n

The Florida National Guard rehearses hurricane response every year and, in many years, puts that practice into action. Hurricane Helene was no different, as nearly 4,100 troops were activated just days before Helene was expected to hit. Most of them staged and ready for post-landfall operations. Others were working in operation centers throughout the state.<\/p>\n

North Carolina also regularly prepares to respond to hurricanes, but the rehearsals and planning typically focus on the state\u2019s coastal areas, not its western reaches.<\/p>\n

The last catastrophic flooding in this region occurred during the Great Flood of 1916. Helene \u2014 categorized as a tropical storm once it reached North Carolina \u2014 brought 30 inches of rain to some areas. The flooding altered the landscape and left people stranded on rooftops without communications or commodities.<\/p>\n

Once Helene left Florida and the devastation to the north became evident, the Florida National Guard\u2019s work was no longer restricted to state borders. Florida Guardsmen were among the thousands of Guard troops mobilized to North Carolina via Emergency Management Assistance Compact requests. EMACs are integral to large-scale National Guard domestic operations, enabling states to support and provide forces and capabilities to each other when needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the beauty of the EMAC,\u201d Nordhaus said, \u201cto see how fast that system works.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nordhaus and Whitehead toured the North Carolina Guard\u2019s Morganton Regional Readiness Center, set up as a joint reception, staging, and onward integration site, where Guardsmen were processed in and out of the area.<\/p>\n

There, elements of the farthest-reaching Guard unit sent to North Carolina \u2014 the Michigan Guard\u2019s 507th Engineer Battalion \u2014 were preparing to withdraw from the operation and return home. The unit\u2019s primary mission was to clear roads and remove debris.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were definitely some emotional days where we saw people that lost everything that they own,\u201d said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Troy TerHaar, a construction engineer. \u201cGod put us in the right place at the right time with the right people for the right circumstance. I\u2019m so proud of everybody in this unit and the initiative they took to get the job done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thousands of Guardsmen remain on station while the Department of Defense continues to support search-and-rescue operations, route clearance, and commodities distribution across western North Carolina. Some 1,500 active-duty troops from the Army\u2019s 18th Airborne Corps, which includes Soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division and 101st Airborne Division, were mobilized.<\/p>\n

The North Carolina National Guard appointed Army Brig. Gen. Wes Morrison the dual-status commander to lead active troops and Guardsmen and ensure command, control and coordination to get aid and troops where most needed.<\/p>\n

Command Sgt. Maj. Benjamin Garner, the North Carolina Guard\u2019s command senior enlisted leader, lives west of Asheville \u2014 one of North Carolina\u2019s hardest hit towns \u2014and is a high school educator when he is not in uniform. When the storm arrived, he lost power and had no mobile network connection for days. His home was mostly spared from damage, but his community and the surrounding communities were \u201cunderwater.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garner has spent the past three weeks circulating the region to meet with and check on Guardsmen and civilians to ensure they get the support they need.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a way to educate the public on what our capabilities are because, you know, they don\u2019t see that every day,\u201d Garner said. \u201cThey see the big things on the news and things of that nature. But to see it embedded in the communities, I can just tell you from my community, it will not be forgotten.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garner noted that the integration of active-duty Soldiers with Guardsmen has been seamless. The North Carolina Guard assigned liaison personnel to work in county emergency operations centers with interagency personnel to pinpoint what capabilities were needed and what force packages \u2014 whether active duty or Guard \u2014would be best utilized.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re doing this thing together just like we did in Iraq and Afghanistan,\u201d Garner said. \u201cWe\u2019ve come together for the good of the people we\u2019re serving. But it\u2019s not just military personnel. It\u2019s been churches, civic groups volunteers and supply runners that are bringing it from their town.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo see this seamless integration between all people that are determined to achieve one goal, which is to help the people in need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Army Maj. Gen. Ronald Win Burkett II, National Guard Bureau director of domestic operations and force development, said in a media round table Oct. 3 there was \u201cincredible coordination and really some Herculean efforts\u201d by the many National Guard units and federal, state and local authorities.<\/p>\n

Across the Southeast, the response continues. Clean-up work, clearing roadways and bridges and distributing commodities are ongoing priorities. Support efforts are evolving from response to recovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cHurricane Helene is one of the most devastating storms that western North Carolina has experienced, and our hearts are with our citizens trying to recover and regain some sense of normalcy,\u201d said Army Maj. Gen. Todd Hunt, the adjutant general of North Carolina. \u201cThe North Carolina National Guard, along with our interstate and state partners, are here until the job is done.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Tampa, Nordhaus and Whitehead visited a distribution site set up after Hurricane Milton left many homes and roadways inundated with water and citizens without easy access to supplies. Florida Guardsmen and local response agencies supplied water, food and tarps to people. The line of cars was lengthy. Hugs with Guardsmen were frequently exchanged.<\/p>\n

Air Force Staff Sgt. Cody Cheeley, an F-35A Lightning II crew chief with the 125th Fighter Wing, Jacksonville Air National Guard Base, was activated on state active-duty orders for Helene support, sent home, and returned to Tampa three days later to help with Hurricane Milton response.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a smiling face to show people that it\u2019s going to be OK and it\u2019s going to get better,\u201d Cheeley said. \u201cIt\u2019s rewarding. It\u2019s nice to be able to see the direct impact of the work that we\u2019re doing. One of the main things that brought me to the Florida Guard was to be able to help out in my state where I live.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whitehead thanked Guardsmen and told them they made the right decision to serve.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hear a lot about a lack of propensity to serve among young people,\u201d Whitehead told a group of Soldiers and Airmen in Florida. \u201cThat\u2019s not what I see here. I see motivated and enthusiastic young people getting after it, stepping up, and helping our fellow citizens. The future of our Guard is in good hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hundreds of stranded people have been rescued, thousands of cubic yards of debris removed, and millions of pounds of commodities distributed across the Southeast.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, this kind of a response is a strategic deterrent to our adversaries that they cannot affect America,\u201d Nordhaus said. \u201cThis type of interagency coordination makes us especially strong as a nation and as a National Guard.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking with our federal, state and local partners, there is nothing we can\u2019t achieve together,\u201d he said.
—
Army Lt. Col. Ellis Parks and Air Force Capt. Brittianie Funderburk contributed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Air Force Gen. Steven Nordhaus, chief, National Guard Bureau, meets with Florida National Guard leaders and Guardsmen mobilized in Tampa, Florida, to help communities affected by Hurricane Milton Oct. 16, 2024. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. 1st Class Zach Sheely) (Photo Credit: Sgt. 1st Class Zach Sheely) VIEW ORIGINAL MORGANTON, N.C. \u2013 The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304700,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-304698","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\/304698","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=304698"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304698\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":304701,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304698\/revisions\/304701"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/304700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=304698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=304698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=304698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}