On Sept. 21, 12 New Jersey Army National Guard Soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 112th Field Artillery, 50th Main Support Battalion, and Joint Force Headquarters departed from McGuire Air Force Base destined for Belle Chasse Naval Air Station New Orleans to relieve their counterparts in the Louisiana National Guard who have been on duty at the military flight facility since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast more than three weeks ago.

      The Garden State Guardsmen, who all volunteered to answer the call to fulfill this latest mission, will serve as a “movement control cell” directing the hundreds of aircraft and vehicles bringing desperately needed relief supplies to the storm-stricken area.  The Jersey troops were tasked for this special mission as part of the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) that provides authority for Guard units from other than their home state to provide personnel and equipment in the event of an emergency.  The Soldiers will be stationed at Belle Chasse for up to 30 days where they will help coordinate arrivals and departures of the numerous daily flights of military and other relief aircraft that are bringing additional troops, equipment, and supplies to aid in the ongoing national relief and recovery effort.

      This is the third group of Jersey Guardsmen sent to New Orleans to support relief operations since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast region.  Thirty-five Security Forces Airmen of the 108th Air Refueling Wing, New Jersey Air National Guard, spent two weeks assisting local law enforcement personnel in restoring and maintaining order.  Twenty-five soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, 112th Field Artillery spent three days setting up a Life Support Area for the Law Enforcement Task Force from New Jersey that sent State Police and other emergency services personnel to the devastated region (also as part of the state's EMAC agreement with Louisiana.)

In the early hours immediately following the disaster, both New Jersey Army and Air Guard personnel helped collect, package and deliver more than 2 million bottles of water to the victims of Katrina and are awaiting air transportation to send another 1.5 million bottles to those areas that still do not have potable water.

Lt. Col. Eric Anderson, (Joint Force Headquarters – New Jersey) commands the latest group of Guardsmen to deploy.  “As a Guardsman I'm happy to be able to help our fellow Americans in the aftermath of this terrible disaster.  As a husband and father, I can only imagine what these families have had to endure these past weeks.”

      The current relief effort differs somewhat from previous emergency assistance missions following Hurricane Floyd, Hurricane Andrew, and the local flood emergencies in Somerset County a few years back.  The areas of the Gulf Coast have been so severely damaged that numerous new challenges have been introduced.  The virtual absence of communications, electricity, housing, fuel, food, and potable water required rescue personnel not only to bring relief supplies to assist the victims of the Hurricane, but also to be completely self supporting.

      Maj. Gen. Glenn K. Rieth - The Adjutant General of New Jersey, who along with Acting Governor Richard J. Codey, Commander-in-Chief of the New Jersey National Guard accompanied the troops during their flight to New Orleans, described the Guard's role in emergencies.

      “These Guardsmen all volunteered.  Their willingness to put service to state and nation before service to self has always been the hallmark of the Citizen-Soldier.  The number one priority, as it should be, is to provide whatever additional support we can to help those people affected by this unprecedented calamity."

      Ironically, many of those affected are National Guardsmen themselves and the families of the thousands of National Guard members from Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida deployed to Southwest Asia in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

      General Rieth described the Guard's response to this element of the situation.  “The Guard is family. We take care of our own.  We already have an extensive network of family support and family assistance centers to care for the families of our Soldiers and Airmen deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.  Whatever resources we have …whatever resources we can muster now will be directed to assisting our extended National Guard family and other storm victims in the Gulf Coast region.”

      In fact, many of the Soldiers and Airmen volunteering for emergency assistance missions are from units that recently returned from overseas deployments in support of the global war against terrorism.

      Lt. Col. Henri Schepens, the new Commander of the 3rd Battalion, 112th Field Artillery put the role of his troops in perspective.  “In the past three years, our guys have been called upon to help in the rescue and recovery efforts following Sept. 11, to fight the war on terrorism and to perform numerous Homeland Security missions here in the Garden State.  We're providing additional security at the state's two nuclear facilities and at key, active duty military installations; we respond whenever the Department of Homeland Security raises the terror alert level to “orange”; and we still respond to local emergencies here in New Jersey.  We train to be ready for any emergency.  That's why we exist.  And when we're able to provide assistance to those in need, we're truly happy to be able to make a difference.”