FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. – The Pennsylvania National Guard activated a dual-status commander Dec. 31 to provide command and control of federal COVID-19 response teams in Pennsylvania.
Brig. Gen. James McCormack, director of the joint staff, Pennsylvania National Guard, will oversee an active-duty Air Force medical response team in York and a medical assistance team in Scranton. The teams were sent by the Federal Emergency Management Agency at the request of Gov. Tom Wolf.
“Pennsylvania National Guard Soldiers and Airmen have been responding to a wide variety of COVID-19 missions across the commonwealth since March 2020,” said Maj. Gen. Mark Schindler, Pennsylvania’s adjutant general. “These missions demonstrate the responsiveness and flexibility of our service members, who continually step up to serve their communities. I am grateful for the service and sacrifice of all our service members, their families and the employers who support them.”
The dual-status command concept allows a National Guard officer to command both federal and state troops responding to a domestic emergency.
Since the dual-status commander is a National Guard officer, it gives the governor the ability to control both state and federal troops – for example, Active Army and Army National Guard Soldiers – operating in their state.
In addition to this mission, the PNG supports long-term care facilities across the commonwealth. Approximately 110 PNG service members were activated as of Jan. 4 to assist with staff shortages.
The staffing support teams are medical providers, medics and general-purpose personnel. The medical personnel assist with patients' non-acute care, while the general-purpose personnel help with tasks such as delivering meals and cleaning.
Since the long-term care facility mission began in April 2020, the PNG has conducted about 140 staffing support missions and provided some form of assistance to more than 130 long-term care facilities. PNG service members have worked more than 14,500 shifts.