Governor calls up 50 Air Guardsmen for ice duty

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Bob Oldham
  • 189th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. --  Nearly 50 Airmen from the Arkansas Air National Guard's 189th Airlift Wing deployed Jan. 31 to Fulton County in Northern Arkansas to help residents recover from last week's ice storm.

The Air Guard team is part of 825 Arkansas Soldiers and Airmen called to state active duty by Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe to assist the state's residents along the northern tier of the state.

"We're doing all of this while we're also deploying Airmen to Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom to support the overseas war effort, while our day-to-day C-130 training mission continues uninterrupted," said Col. Jim Summers, 189th Airlift Wing commander. "This is a prime example of how flexible our Air National Guard is, but it takes the support of those external influencers - employers and a Guardsman's family - for it to continue to work. I can't say enough about how employers and families have stepped up to the plate to support their Guardsmen when they're needed most."

The Little Rock AFB team is one of 10, 50-person Guard teams helping citizens across the state.

The captain in charge of the deployed Airmen recently returned from an overseas deployment.

"We're seeing downed power lines and large trees, 18 to 36 inches in circumference, that have fallen across roads," said Capt. Mark Hart, the officer in charge of the Guardsmen's operations in Fulton County, in a telephone interview Feb. 2.

The Airmen, from various specialties, have two priorities: account for citizens in the county and clear debris from county roads.

The captain divided his team into six, six-person teams. Four on each team are responsible for cutting and tree removal and two on each team provide logistical support and check on area residents. The rest are assigned to the team's operations center to coordinate with local officials and provide personnel accountability.

"We're not seeing a lot of damages to houses, it's mainly tree damage to upper branches," the captain said.

Community officials have supported the deployed Guardsmen by providing hot meals, baked goodies and satellite television so they could watch the Super Bowl Feb. 1. Additionally, Salem, Ark., city officials delivered a decontamination unit to the county fairgrounds where the Guardsmen are staying, which includes a two-stall shower system so they can have a warm shower each evening.

The Guardsmen departed Little Rock Air Force Base for a seven-day mission after Fulton County officials requested support from the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management.

ADEM coordinates requests with the Arkansas Guard's Joint Operations Center, both of which are located on Camp Joseph T. Robinson in North Little Rock. Once it's determined the Guard has the equipment or manpower to support a request, ADEM coordinates with the governor's office to mobilize the number of Guard members for a given mission.

Arkansas Guardsmen have been busy with state active duty missions this year, according to the state's public affairs officer.

"After marking a record year in its history with 81 state active-duty missions in [fiscal year] 2008, the Arkansas National Guard was tasked with its 71st mission of [FY] 2009 Jan. 31," Capt. Chris Heathscott, the state's PAO, said.

The Guard is 10 shy of last year's total and only four months into the fiscal year.

In response to the devastation left behind from the ice storm, the Arkansas National Guard has responded with missions, such as providing power generation, cots and blankets, emergency shelter, fuel, water, health and welfare checks, route clearance, shower systems, radios and chain saws, damage assessment flights, and a Disaster Relief Bed-down System -- reportedly the system's first deployment ever in the United States. The DRBS is an Air National Guard tent system that provides portable showers, washers and dryers. It's based in Fort Smith with the 188th Fighter Wing.