April 22, 2020
Nearly seven weeks into the COVID-19 pandemic response
mission, the New York National Guard had 3,600 troops performing missions
ranging from answering public inquiry hotlines to assisting New York City in
retrieving the remains of those who have died at home.
Along with 2,993 Army National Guard soldiers and 452 Air
National Guard airmen, members of the New York Naval Militia and the New York
Guard, the state defense force, also are serving.
The emotionally and physically challenging mission of
assisting the New York City medical examiner's office in the dignified recovery
of human remains is the toughest mission facing the soldiers and airmen, Army
Maj. Gen. Ray Shields, the New York adjutant general, said. There are 255
soldiers and airmen handling this mission.
The medical examiner's office is responsible for the
recovery of people who die outside of a hospital. The staff was overwhelmed at
the spike in COVID-19-related deaths in the city of 8.5 million people, so city
officials turned to the New York National Guard for help, and Guard soldiers
and airmen are on duty around the clock to help.
"Your work makes a difference for families at a very
critical time of need when their loss is most personal," Shields told
members of the detail April 2.
We want to make sure that all our health care professionals
have the personal protection equipment needed to do their jobs and keep
themselves safe."
Army Staff Sgt. Stephanie Kimball, New York National Guard
The mission started with specially trained airmen of the
107th Attack Wing's fatality search and recovery team. As the demands of the
mission grew, additional troops were assigned. Now, soldiers from the 101st
Signal Battalion, the 152nd Brigade Engineer Battalion and the 2nd Battalion,
108th Infantry, also are handling this duty.
In addition, New York National Guard soldiers and airmen are
supporting 10 drive through COVID-19 test sites run by the state health
department. Since the first site opened outside New Rochelle in Westchester
County on March 15, 116,126 people have been tested at the sites.
A major mission has been the packaging and delivery of
meals. When the mission started, the goal was to provide meals to New Rochelle
families whose children would be missing school lunches because of closed
schools. Since then, the effort has expanded into a major feeding operation in
New York City.
As of April 18, soldiers and airmen in New York City had
distributed 1,398,947 meals since the start of the mission. On April 17 alone,
111,792 meals were provided in New York City. The mission has grown so much
that additional soldiers deployed from western New York to help.
On April 14, Army 1st Lt. Jessica Reed, a platoon leader in
the 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry led 25 soldiers from Niagara Falls to New York
City to assist in the food distribution mission in the Bronx. The soldiers had
been preparing for the mission since March, Reed said.
"Word got out that this was a potential thing,"
said Reed, a member of the squadron's Bravo Troop. "We had our guys come
into armories to fill out paperwork and pack the essential things we knew they
might need."
The food distribution mission in Westchester County has
provided 68,333 meals, while soldiers in Albany County distributed 1,406 meals
to people in quarantine.
Soldiers and airmen are conducting warehouse operations at
six locations across New York. They have been moving supplies to troops in the
field across the state.
It's not exciting work, but it is important, said Army Staff
Sgt. Stephanie Kimball of the New York Guard's 1569th Transportation Company,
369th Sustainment Brigade.
"I feel proud that we can do something in a time of
need," Kimball said. "We want to make sure that all our health care
professionals have the personal protection equipment needed to do their jobs
and keep themselves safe."
Another necessary product being distributed by the New York
National Guard is hand sanitizer being packaged by the New York Department of Corrections and Custodial Services. Troops have distributed
35,432 gallons of hand sanitizer in the Hudson Valley since the mission began.
In the state capital of Albany, soldiers and airmen have
been putting together COVID-19 testing kits to support the state health
department. On April 17,the soldiers produced 8,300 kits, for a total of
191,000 since the mission began.
"The Guard is helping us out with trying to get as many
kits out as we can," said Alexis Tripodo, a state employee of the Division
of Homeland Security and Emergency Services. "They are helping out
tremendously with the speed of the completed kits and making sure it's
accurate, making sure every bag is packed correctly. The more people we have,
the faster we can get these to the sites and the more people we can test."
In New York City, the New York National Guard continues to
support the alternative care facility for COVID-19 patients established at the
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.
Some 2,100 military medical staff members are working at
Javits and in New York City hospitals. Soldiers of the Army's 44th Medical
Brigade are providing staffing at the center, now operating as the Javits New
York Medical Station. Additional medical staff members come from the Army Reserve,
the Navy Reserve, the Air Force and the Civilian Medical Reserve Corps. A total
of 2,708 people are working at the alternative care facility, and more than 950
patients have received care there.
New York National Guard members continue to manage the
Javits site as the unified command post for the multiagency response and are
providing other logistical and administrative help.
On Easter Sunday, Air Force Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Jacob Marvel
of the New York Air National Guard's 109th Airlift Wing made sure that anyone
who wanted to receive communion that day had the chance. While ensuring that
social distancing protocols were followed, Marvel conducted an abridged Mass
for 140 visitors to his temporary chapel at the convention center.
"My goal was to provide spiritual support for people
who needed it or wanted it," Marvel explained. "We are in the midst
of Holy Days for several religions, and our spirituality is an important part
of how we stay balanced in this crisis."
New York National Guard soldiers are supporting an
alternative care facility established at the state's South Beach Psychiatric
Center on Staten Island, as well as working at the Javits location.
A unique medical mission has placed pararescue airmen of the
106th Rescue Wing at a New York City hospital to assist medical technicians
there as they care for patients on ventilators.
New York National Guard soldiers and airmen have been
assisting the state health department in answering calls to its coronavirus
hotline since the mission began. Working at a call center in Rotterdam, N.Y.,
and eventually taking overnight and weekend duty, the National Guard members
had fielded 183,169 calls since March 11 by late last week.
That mission was phased out early this week, and the
soldiers and airmen are moving on to other duties. But a call center operation
on behalf of New York City will continue. Guardsmen working there have handled
more than 4,000 calls.
"Everyone is doing great work," Shields told the
force in an email. "Know that your support is vital to our fellow citizens
and is recognized at the highest level by our elected officials."
(Courtesy of the New York National Guard.)
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