FARGO, N.D.- "Get this. One antenna sees another antenna and the two soon fall in love. They end up getting married and afterward are asked about how it went. One antenna responds, 'Well, the wedding was OK, but the reception was GREAT!'"
Telling corny jokes is one of the ways that teams of Citizen-Soldiers and -Airmen are passing their 12-hour shifts manning traffic control points (TCPs) throughout the Fargo area.
Staff Sgt. Martin Waller and Senior Airman Mark Benway, both of the 219th Security Forces Squadron of Minot, N.D., are one of those teams.
Even though both Airmen have been working more than nine days straight, they said they are doing their best to keep their spirits high.
"A lot of other patrols come by and hang out for a few minutes because we like telling jokes and keeping up morale," Benway said. "There's no point in griping about it, because this is the role we were called up to fill."
More than 20 of these traffic control points are spread out around the city of Fargo. They are located along major routes that quick reaction forces (QRF) would use if the need arose to get heavy equipment and sandbags to the dike system in the area.
The teams are made of up service members from the North Dakota Air National Guard's 219th Security Forces and the North Dakota Army National Guard's 191st Military Police Company of Fargo.
1st Lt. Robert N. Peleschak of the 231st Brigade Support Battalion is attached to the 191st MPs as the officer-in-charge.
He said the main mission of the TCP is to help support the efforts of service trucks and the QRFs during flood operations, ensuring those resources can get to where they are needed.
Sgt. 1st Class Toby Vetter, TCP battle captain from Moorhead, Minn., said another reason the TCPs have been set up is to watch the intersections — a cautionary measure to try to cut down on possible accidents or sightseers.
Apart from jokes and conversations, service members at the TCPs are passing the time by listening to music and getting to know area residents.
Both Waller and Benway said the response from the community has been great. Several residents have thanked them and taken their picture.
"One girl told us she loved us," Benway said.
"The best part is when a family comes by and the kids hop in the Humvee and you see how cool they think it is," Waller added.
Peleschak agreed that public support has been great. "They have been giving our guys at the TCPs everything from rotisserie chicken to pizzas," he said.
During the height of operations in Fargo, 143 Air and Army National Guard members conducted traffic control operations.
"The first three days we were controlling traffic at TCPs," Waller said. "Those were the hardest days, mainly because of the weather and people didn't know where to go. They were in a panic state."
"After the first three days, people started to know about everything that was going on, so things went smoother after that," Benway added.
"Another good thing about being here is working jointly with the Army (Guard), doing a real-world mission," Waller said. "You know, one team, one fight."
He added that it was an important experience for younger service members, who might not have had real-world experience yet.
Now, due to a reduced need for traffic control points in the community, the force has dropped to about 56 service members.
"Our efforts aren't needed as strongly at this time, so we are drawing down forces," Peleschak said.
Although the force is being reduced, the teams that will stay active are more than ready for upcoming shifts, telling jokes and getting to know the people they came to help.
"We're going to keep going at our current pace until we are told different," Vetter said.