{"id":308599,"date":"2024-10-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-22T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=308599"},"modified":"2024-10-23T04:40:42","modified_gmt":"2024-10-23T04:40:42","slug":"new-york-guard-helps-floridians-recover-from-hurricane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=308599","title":{"rendered":"New York Guard Helps Floridians Recover from Hurricane"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n New York Army National Guard Sgt. Tyler Linendoll, an infantryman assigned to Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, cuts downed tree branches with a chainsaw following Hurricane Milton in Palmetto, Florida, Oct. 11, 2024. Soldiers from the 27th IBCT worked with members of the Florida Army National Guard to provide relief to communities impacted by the hurricane. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Spc. Joseph Liggio)
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PALMETTO, Fla. \u2013 Forty-three New York Army National Guard Soldiers spent a week assisting the Florida National Guard\u2019s response to Hurricane Milton.<\/p>\n

The Soldiers helped clear debris and set up fuel and emergency supply distribution sites in Parrish and Bradenton, south of Tampa, Oct. 9-15.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had an extremely motivated group,\u201d said 1st Lt. Ivelisse Velazquez, a personnel officer assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry Regiment, who led the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone wanted to come down here and get to work and help out wherever they could, and it was really great seeing that motivation,\u201d Velazquez said.<\/p>\n

The mission kicked off Oct. 9 when 41 volunteers from New York\u2019s 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, supported by two personnel from the 53rd Troop Command, flew out of Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse with 10 Humvees.<\/p>\n

The Soldiers loaded the vehicles on two C-17 Globemaster IIIs operated by the New York Air National Guard\u2019s 105th Airlift Wing.<\/p>\n

Many of the Soldiers found out about the mission just a few hours before arriving at the airfield.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, we didn\u2019t know what to expect. We didn\u2019t know where we were gonna go,\u201d said Staff Sgt. Kevin Morales-Roldon, a section sergeant assigned to the 152nd Brigade Engineer Battalion, 427th Brigade Support Battalion.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what we do \u2014 this is the National Guard \u2014 the reason why we have this, and it’s always great for everyone to be ready just in case that call comes,\u201d said Morales-Roldon.<\/p>\n

The Soldiers staged at Camp Blanding Joint Training Center in Starke, Florida, where Air and Army National Guard units from across the county waited for the hurricane to pass.<\/p>\n

The New York Army National Guard contingent convoyed south to Palmetto Oct. 11 and spent the afternoon clearing downed trees.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we got closer, you did get to see a little bit more of what the effects of the hurricane were, and it was definitely a lot of damage, and I think it makes you feel like you want to help even more,\u201d said Spc. Emily Burdick, a motor transport operator assigned to the 427th Brigade Support Battalion.<\/p>\n

Early the next day, the team divided into two groups, each responsible for setting up and managing a distribution site in Parrish and Bradenton, where locals could drive through and pick up provisions.<\/p>\n

In just a few hours, the sites were up and running.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we got there, we got the trucks open and had to bring a lot of the resources down by hand \u2014 tarps, meals and cases of water,\u201d said Burdick.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got to work, and people showed up, and we started handing them out and making sure that they knew that there was a friendly face and that we were here to help them,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the wake of everything, I was glad that we could bring a sense of calm to people,\u201d said Spc. Shane Bierk, a cavalry scout assigned to Bravo Troop, 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry Regiment.<\/p>\n

For many on the mission, including Bierk, it was their first time serving in state active duty and representing the Guard outside New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did feel like we brought a sense of real peace to the community at a time of emergency \u2014 they enjoyed us being here,\u201d said Bierk.<\/p>\n

In less than 12 hours, the Soldiers handed out about 1,540 boxes of emergency rations, 1,800 cases of water and 1,200 tarps and helped refuel 310 vehicles.<\/p>\n

Due to an overwhelming Guard response of over 7,000 personnel and damage from the storm being lighter than expected, the team was recalled back to Blanding Oct. 13 to prepare to return to New York.<\/p>\n

The Soldiers were thankful the communities were on the road to recovery faster than anticipated.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand that the Army’s plans are always changing, and you never really know what to expect,\u201d said Burdick. \u201cBy getting out here as fast as we did, and being able, even if it was just for one day, to see the people that came through to get resources smile a little bit and know that there were people here to help them \u2014 that was incredibly rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

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

New York Army National Guard Sgt. Tyler Linendoll, an infantryman assigned to Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, cuts downed tree branches with a chainsaw following Hurricane Milton in Palmetto, Florida, Oct. 11, 2024. Soldiers from the 27th IBCT worked with members of the Florida Army National Guard to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":308601,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-308599","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\/308599","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=308599"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":308602,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308599\/revisions\/308602"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/308601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=308599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=308599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=308599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}