Florida National Guard responds to storms in and out of state

STARKE, Fla. - The end of September and beginning of October proved to be a heavy lift for Soldiers and Airmen of the Florida National Guard when Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton made landfall over two weeks. While Florida National Guard units are trained for these types of emergency operations, every storm is different and presents its own challenges.

Nearly 4,100 troops were activated just days before Hurricane Helene was expected to hit, most of them staged and ready for post-landfall operations. Others were working in operation centers throughout the state.

Once Hurricane Helene left Florida, the Florida National Guard's work was no longer restricted to state borders - expanded to North Carolina via an Emergency Management Assistance Compact request. EMACs are integral to large-scale National Guard operations, enabling states to support and respond capabilities to each other when needed.

"The role of the Guard in an EMAC situation is really a force multiplier," said Lt. Col. Brian Cooper, commander, 1-111th General Support Aviation Battalion. "It's an agreement between states that enables other National Guard organizations into that state to help those citizens in need."

Florida's aviation assets relieved some of the demands placed on the North Carolina National Guard and civilian partner agencies and augmented Guardsmen impacted by the storm who were unable to support state active-duty operations. This aspect of the Guard is often overlooked, but it's proven to be critically important.

Many Guardsmen pride themselves on being Citizen-Soldiers able to give back to their communities in times of desperation. When another state can step in and fill the gap, it allows those displaced service members to focus on their own families' well-being.

"As a National Guard member, we're trained and prepared for missions like this. Responding to natural disasters is one of the key roles we fulfill in the Guard, and it's an honor to be able to contribute to relief efforts for our state and others in need," said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Ashley Smith, pilot, Bravo Company, 1-111th Aviation Regiment.

Smith was deployed for Hurricane Helene operations in Florida, then traveled to North Carolina to support the response to the storm there.

"My team was focused on providing assistance to those in need, ensuring the safety of those affected by the storm and helping with recovery operations. It's a challenging situation, but we were ready and committed to doing our part," said Smith.

Within the first 24 hours of its EMAC operations, the Florida National Guard's 1-111th Aviation Regiment flew over 20,000 pounds of supplies, including food and water, from Asheville Regional Airport to Mitchell High School.

This EMAC response was the first for the Florida National Guard since 2005 when Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana.

As part of its support package, the FLNG provided two CH-47 Chinooks with heavy lift capabilities. These allowed the Florida National Guard to deliver commodities to isolated locations, leveraging a larger platform for urban search and rescue movements into an affected area, and sling load capabilities, enabling engineer assets to clear roads and ensure first responders could get to the areas of greatest need.

"This EMAC was historic - historic in that this generation of Soldiers has never seen this, including myself. Florida typically receives the donor states to us, due to being the first impacted state," said Cooper. "This one was historic because of the size and nature of this hurricane, affecting numerous states at a great deal of speed. So, what we felt as an impact [in Florida] ultimately impacted those states as well."

While there are standard expectations that come with hurricane response operations, it's rare that the Florida National Guard is activated to support two storms barely two weeks apart. With Hurricane Milton's imminent landfall, the Florida National Guard needed to rescind its EMAC package to prepare for new operations back in Florida.

The EMAC process has repeatedly proven to be a vital aspect of the National Guard's framework, ensuring that the necessary resources are available and, more importantly, giving citizens the peace of mind that the National Guard is "always ready and always there."

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