F.S. GABRESKI AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, N.Y. - New York National Guard Soldiers from the 42nd Infantry Division Headquarters left their armories from across the state to converge at on empty field Aug. 5 in an exercise meant to mimic the Guard’s hurricane response efforts.
Within hours of the alert, 379 Soldiers and 41 tactical vehicles scrambled to the base and assembled a working division headquarters, capable of commanding the response to a natural disaster or terrorist attack.
The exercise, named Operation Rainbow Hurricane, proved useful to the headquarters of the 42nd Infantry Division. The unit, now serving as lead of the National Guard’s Domestic All-Hazard Response Team East, may be called upon to quickly deploy in support of a natural disaster or terrorist attack in any state east of the Mississippi.
While the public is very familiar with the image of Guard members filling sandbags or distributing food during a disaster, the creation of DART shows a shift in how the Guard approaches domestic operations, said Army Lt. Col. Patrick Macklin, the 42nd Inf. Div. DART coordinator.
Macklin, who also serves as the division’s deputy of operations, said the events of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina showed that disaster response requires brains as well as brawn, and preparation as well as manpower.
“During Hurricane Katrina, we had all these troops, and no one was in charge,” Macklin said. “All of the adjutant generals got together and said, our response to natural disasters needs to get better.”
“Just throwing 56,000 Soldiers at a disaster area? That’s no good,” said Army Sgt. 1st Class Denis Topliffe, intelligence sergeant with the 42nd Inf. Div. “We want those troops to have the proper equipment, with the right food and the right mission under the right command, because that’s going to save lives, and that’s what it’s all about.”
As part of DART, eight National Guard division headquarters – divided into east and west teams – rotate responsibility for quick deployment to disaster areas, he said. For instance, from Oct. 1, 2010 to Sept. 30, 2012, the headquarters of the 42nd Infantry Division may be called to assist in any calamity in the 26 states east of the Mississippi, as well as the District of Columbia and two territories.
The basic function of DART is to supplement the resources already within a state’s response if needed. The Guard command and control capability is able to plan and identify additional forces to assist a state or command a joint task force for a state governor if necessary.
“We don’t take over. We come in to supplement their headquarters,” Macklin said. “If a governor finds that his Guard command needs more help, he activates DART East. That means that the 42nd Infantry Division Headquarters, with little or no notice, packs up their tents and their equipment and goes to Florida, or Virginia, or Louisiana.”
Macklin said training exercises such as Operation Rainbow Hurricane proves that the 42nd is capable of achieving such a mission.
As a New York City police officer and a Guard member who responded to the events of 9/11, Macklin said the effort follows in the footsteps of those who responded to the events of 9/11 where – within 10 hours – three battalions of Guardsmen had formed a perimeter around ground zero.
“9/11 opened our eyes to the importance of domestic operations,” Macklin said. “We are [an expeditionary force], both overseas and in the continental United States.”