ARLINGTON, Va. - Guard members in 12 states recently wrapped up a busy past several weeks battling winter weather conditions as back-to-back storms dropped heavy snow and ice in states from the Deep South to New England.
The storm response saw close to 1,500 Airmen and Soldiers providing support to state and local authorities by providing transportation for emergency workers, clearing snow and ice from roadways, performing health and welfare checks and a multitude of other missions. The next challenge for the Guard is preparing for and responding to potential spring flooding and tornado threats, followed by the hurricanes or wildfires in certain states.
Virginia was especially hard hit through this winter storm season.
"It's been a busy three weeks for the Virginia National Guard, and I couldn't be more proud of how our personnel responded to the multiple requests for assistance we received," said Army Brig. Gen. Timothy P. Williams, the adjutant general of the Virginia Guard. "Our personnel rapidly staged and were ready to go when needed, establishing highly effective partnerships with the localities to make sure we could get citizens the assistance they needed."
Soldiers from the Virginia Army Guard began staging at locations throughout the state Feb. 16 with more than 330 Soldiers responding to the snow and ice brought by the storms. At the end of the three-week mission, the Soldiers had delivered more than 6,600 bottles of water and 1,800 meals to those affected by the storms. Aviators from the Virginia Army Guard also conducted an aerial resupply mission to deliver supplies to residents on Tangier Island in the Chesapeake Bay, which was iced in, keeping supplies from reaching the island by boat.
"The Guard has really enhanced our abilities to get to people and places we couldn't reach with the roads being in the shape they are in," said Wise County Sheriff's Office Maj. Grant Kilgore. "These are great guys, and everyone has worked really well together."
Soldiers from the Virginia Army Guard also assisted sheriff's deputies and local emergency medical services with two patients in immediate need of dialysis and another whose oxygen supply was running low. The Guard's ability to transport through heavy snow helped save the patients' lives, said 1st Sgt. Billy Bartlett, first sergeant with the 1033rd Engineer Company. On two occasions, Soldiers created field-expedient stretchers from blankets and tarps to transport patients to a medical evacuation point and assisted with transporting more than 25 people to safe areas.
"It is great that we get to provide service to our community," said Pfc. Dakotah Wilson, a heavy equipment operator with the Virginia Army Guard. "It warms the heart and reminds me why I joined the Guard."
Responding to winter storms isn't unusual for the Guard, but the back-to-back storms made the past month stand out.
"The response effort was unusual in that the nature of the back-to-back storms encompassed approximately a month," said Air Force Lt. Col. Timothy Mewes, a team chief at the National Guard Command Center in Arlington, Virginia, which monitored and coordinated the overall, multi-state response.
Others agreed.
"Conducting a third winter storm response in three weeks is unique," said Col. Jim Hawkins, director of military support with the Alabama National Guard. "However, it is well within our capabilities."
For those in Alabama and other parts of the South, massive snow and ice storms aren't something often seen.
"I don't believe I've seen damage this extensive as a result of a winter storm, or any storm for that matter, my entire life," said Army Maj. Colby Tippens, operations officer with the Tennessee Army National Guard's 2nd Squadron, 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, in an interview with local media.
Members of the Tennessee Army Guard were called out to perform health and wellness checks on motorists in response to rapidly deteriorating road conditions on two major interstates.
They also used military dump trucks with crews from both the Army and Air Guard to assist in debris removal in four counties. In neighboring Kentucky, more than 100 members of the Kentucky National Guard also responded to the storms and provided assistance to stranded motorists along interstate highways and worked to deliver water, clear roads and many other tasks.
"We have the equipment to do the job," said Army Staff Sgt. Terry Brock with the Kentucky Army National Guard's Company A, 1st Battalion, 149th Infantry Regiment. "We've been delivering water, clearing roads, shoveling driveways, helping people get to doctors, just helping out wherever we can."
The Soldiers from Brock's unit were responsible for the delivery of more than 7,000 gallons of water, with much of it going to designated distribution points in affected areas, said unit members. Frozen water lines and pump failures knocked out the water to an estimated 45,000 households in eastern Kentucky.
Meanwhile, Massachusetts and other New England states were blanketed with more than 96 inches of snow that fell over the course of a month. February stood as the snowiest month on record for the Boston area, with more than 65 inches falling on the city. The unprecedented amounts of snow left state and local plow crews overwhelmed, said Massachusetts National Guard officials, and close to 700 members of the Massachusetts Guard were called upon to assist with digging out from the record snowfalls. Additional assets from the Vermont and Maine Army National Guard were called in to assist with clearing snow in Massachusetts.
"We didn't have the space, we didn't have the equipment needed to move the snow piles," said Andrew Bagdonas, program coordinator with the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. "And for the residents to see a train of National Guard trucks come down the highway to help was a welcome sense of relief for people to say we are going to return to a state of normalcy."
Soldiers and Airmen dug out more than 4,500 fire hydrants by hand and used heavy equipment to clear roadways of snow, said Massachusetts Guard officials.
"It's a very good experience. A lot of the stuff we do here we would do on deployments," said Army Sgt. Michael Allen, a wheeled vehicle mechanic with the Maine Army National Guard's 262nd Engineer Company (Vertical), which sent Soldiers to assist with snow removal operations in Massachusetts.
"You build stronger teams and everyone knows what their teammates are capable of."
But, despite the overlapping storms, Guard members stood ready when needed.
"This response shows the National Guard is ready and capable of assisting state and local authorities with storm responses," Mewes said.
Army Maj. Kenneth Ola and Sgt.1st Class Peter Morrison contributed to this report.