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ALWAYS READY, ALWAYS THERE
NJNG shines during Sandy
By Brig. Gen. Michael L. Cunniff, The Adjutant General - New Jersey


Brig. Gen. Michael L. Cunniff, left, Adjutant General of New Jersey, explains New Jersey National Guard force deployment to Gen. Frank J. Grass, center, Chief of the National Guard Bureau (CNGB), and Chief Master Sgt. Denise Jelinski-Hall, right, Senior Enlisted Advisor to the CNGB, at Stafford Township, N.J. Nov. 2, 2012. (Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Armando Vasquez/Released)

"142: That's the number of Airmen and Soldiers who were on duty for Hurricane Sandy despite the fact their own homes suffered damage – some of it extensive – from the storm."


No one alive has seen a storm hit New Jersey harder than Hurricane Sandy did.

Its rain, wind and relentless tidal surges cut a path of destruction across this state and threatened thousands of lives.

The hours after Hurricane Sandy made landfall were dark and desperate for tens of thousands of New Jerseyeans, but few faced as grave a threat as the people of Moonachie and Little Ferry, two towns submerged in an instant by a broken levee.

In less than 30 minutes, the National Guard was there, helping people to safety.

The theme that emerged with the first rescues in North Jersey and then grew as National Guard operations spread across the state over the next 60 days was this: The Guard was there.

You, the Citizen Airman and the Citizen Soldier of the New Jersey National Guard, were there.

From rescue and recovery operations on Long Beach Island to a debris clearing operation 150 miles to the north in Warren County, the New Jersey National Guard was there to help when the people of New Jersey needed it most.

The New Jersey National Guard responded to nearly 150 separate requests for assistance from Civil Authorities across the state. The operations our Airmen and Soldiers supported ran the gamut from sheltering displaced residents to setting up mobile kitchens to feed first responders to partnering with the Army's 10th Mountain Division to operate three critical fuel distribution points.

There are many impressive numbers that tell the story of the scope and effectiveness of the National Guard's response to Hurricane Sandy.

But the number that sticks in my mind is this: 142.

That's the number of Airmen and Soldiers who were on duty for Hurricane Sandy despite the fact their own homes suffered damage – some of it extensive – from the storm.

I can't think of a better example of selfless service.

Table of Contents
Volume 35 Number 4 Staff / Information
     
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