RICHMOND, Va. –
Virginia National Guard Airmen assigned to the Virginia Beach-based 203rd Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron, 192nd Mission Support Group, 192nd Wing began assisting with hurricane response operations Oct. 18, 2024, in Burnsville, North Carolina. Approximately 20 RED HORSE Airmen organized as an engineer company with heavy equipment assisted with route clearance, road construction and debris removal as well as assisted with staffing at commodity point of distribution.
As of Oct. 23, the Airmen have applied nearly 1,300 tons of road base on one project, completed 100 percent of work on a culvert project and 90 percent on a second culvert project. Another team cleared more than 570 yards of road, removed 130 loads of debris and also removed four cars and two buses from a creek. A third team helped organized 380 pallets of supplies serving nearly 4,750 people.
“Airmen with the 203rd RED HORSE have significant engineering experience from multiple overseas federal active deployments and an aggressive training plan here in Virginia, and now they get to put that experience to work to help with the hurricane response in North Carolina,” said Brig. Gen. Todd Hubbard, VNG Director of the Joint Staff. “These Airmen are flexible, resilient and highly capable, and I know they are going to make a positive effort with the clean up effort.”
The Airmen originally deployed to Florida with capabilities requested through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, and they repositioned to North Carolina to support EMAC requests there after Florida released them.
The VNG mobilized additional capabilities in response to EMAC requests from Florida.
A VNG Black Hawk helicopter crew and members of the Chesterfield County Fire and Emergency Medical Services Scuba Rescue Team deployed as the Virginia Helicopter Aquatic Rescue Team Oct. 8, flew a search and rescue flight Oct. 10 and safety returned to Virginia Oct. 11 after Florida determined their rescue hoist capabilities were no longer needed. The team Four VNG Soldiers and three Chesterfield techs make up a HART crew.
Approximately 100 VNG Soldiers organized as a general purpose support company deployed to Florida and were ready to provide support, and they returned to Virginia and demobilized Oct. 14 when Florida determined their capabilities were no longer needed. Soldiers assigned to several different units of the 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team supported the mission.
Approximately 105 VNG Solders organized as transportation company with 30 tactical trucks demobilized mustered in Virginia Beach and demobilized Oct. 11 when Florida determined their high mobility transportation capabilities were no longer needed. Soldiers assigned to the 1173rd Transportation Company, 1030th Transportation Battalion, 329th Regional Support Group supported the mission.
The last group of approximately VNG 10 Soldiers supporting operations in the Abingdon demobilized Oct. 11. The Soldiers completed a water pipeline damage assessment mission Oct. 9 in the Damascus area. The Soldiers covered more than 20 miles on foot and identified 10 damaged or exposed sections where the water pipeline was washed out, exposed and in need of repair. Using GPS and tablets, the Soldiers marked the damaged areas for follow up assessment and future repair.