Logistics Readiness Officer Ensures Ohio Guardsmen's Safety

 March 31, 2020 | BY AIR FORCE TECH. SGT. SHANE HUGHES

As nearly 400 members of the Ohio National Guard go to work each day packaging, transporting and distributing food and other essential items to the state's most vulnerable populations, a logistics readiness officer assigned to the 178th Wing monitors the situation to ensure the guardsmen are safe.

As a member of Joint Task Force 37,  Air Force 1st Lt. Justin Rainier is supporting Operation Steady Resolve as an intelligence officer.

He said his job is to gather intelligence information for the various commanders to pass on to the soldiers and airmen working at the food banks. The information he gathers includes threats against the guardsmen, as well as severe weather and road conditions that might affect food distribution routes.

''If you have flooding or road closures in some of the more rural parts of the state, there might only be one road in or out,'' Rainier said. ''If civilians can't get to the food bank because of flooding, we have equipment that can ford through water and get that food where it's needed.''

But we as guardsmen are flexible by nature, because we never know what the mission is going to be, and it can always change at the drop of a hat.''

Air Force 1st Lt. Justin Rainier

He said he's also tracking how COVID-19 is spreading throughout the state to help guide decisions on how to best keep guardsmen healthy while performing their missions. ''This is something fairly unprecedented,'' Rainier said. ''We’ve done all this before, but the difference here is the scale and the duration, and we’re just getting started.''

Army Lt. Col. Mike Draper, Joint Task Force 37 chief of staff, said the skills Rainier brought to the team have been a huge asset for the mission.

While he isn't an intelligence officer by trade, Rainier said, there is some overlap between his role as a logistics officer and his new temporary position as an intelligence officer. Both roles require him to determine how to best allocate resources to complete the mission, which is the task force's overarching mission, he explained.

''I'm getting a crash course in just a sliver of what [intelligence officers] do every day,'' he said. ''This is a new realm for me. But we as guardsmen are flexible by nature, because we never know what the mission is going to be, and it can always change at the drop of a hat.''

Army Maj. Nick Palmer, the task force's operations officer, said he's been impressed by Rainer since he walked in the door. ''He received little to no guidance, and he jumped right in, briefing terrain and weather effects to the boss,'' Palmer said.

Rainier said it's critical for the National Guard to step in and help ensure that people's basic needs are met to help keep the community safe and healthy.

''We're serving a greater purpose,'' he said. ''Everything we're doing is to try and save lives.''

(Air Force Tech. Sgt. Shane Hughes is assigned to the Ohio Air National Guard’s 178th Wing.)