ST. CROIX, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS – The Virginia National Guard's Staunton-based 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team serves as the mission command headquarters for Joint Task Force Stonewall, a multi-state, multi-service team providing a variety of capabilities to support the U.S. Virgin Islands National Guard and territory leadership during recovery following the recent hurricanes.
They are also coordinating with the more than 250 active duty military personnel assisting with recovery operations as well as civilian responders.
"We are making steady progress," said Col. Scott Smith, the JTF Stonewall commander. "Our Soldiers and Airmen, a composite group from 18 different states and the District of Columbia, are integrated into all aspects of recovery operations to include delivery of commodities at points of distribution, traffic control, security operations, airfield operations and communications support to critical infrastructure sites with the U.S. Virgin Islands National Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency and other territorial and federal agencies. We were welcomed with open arms by our gracious hosts from the Virgin Islands National Guard, and I am so proud of our Soldiers and Airmen who answered the call of duty to help our fellow citizens."
Virginia National Guard Soldiers are assisting with the operation of 16 points of distribution across St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. Johns, and they are also assisting local law enforcement with traffic control points and running the operations center for JTF Stonewall. Aviation crews from the Tennessee, Montana and Vermont National Guard are providing helicopter transport for personnel and equipment as well medical evacuation. Military police personnel from the Tennessee, New York and Kentucky National Guard are assisting with security, engineers from the Ohio National Guard are conducting route clearance and logisticians from the Ohio and Mississippi National Guard are coordinating resupply efforts for citizens as well as military personnel. Signal personnel from the Maine, Ohio, Utah, Vermont and New York National Guard are operating satellite systems providing critical communications capabilities.
"It's all pretty impressive," said Command Sgt. Maj. Henry Motley, referring to everything the task force has accomplished in just a few days. "They're dedicated to this mission and the resiliency and determination shown by the U.S. Virgin Islands Soldiers and Airmen are simply inspiring. They've taken a beating from two hurricanes and they're still fighting back to help their neighbors!"