Alabama National Guardsmen deploy in support of War on Terror
Posted Jan 22, 2003 at 10:21:AM MST
JO2 Anthony Falvo, USNR
NORFOLK, Va. - The Department of Defense's efforts for homeland security recently received a shot in the arm as members from the Army National Guard's 167th Theater Support Command joined the U.S. Northern Command's Norfolk-based Standing Joint Force Headquarters - Homeland Security (JFHQ-HLS).
The Alabama National Guard's thirty-seven members deployed for a one-year mission to Norfolk in support of America's ongoing war against terrorism. The Alabama National Guard, like many of America's guard and reserve troops, are filling critical billets for the nation's first standing joint force headquarters for homeland security.
The command serves as a homeland security component of U.S. Northern Command coordinating the land and maritime defense of the continental United States while planning and integrating the full spectrum of military support to lead federal agencies, such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Prevention, crisis response and consequence management are capabilities included within that spectrum of support.
The 167th will fill personnel positions in support of homeland security. Depending upon a soldier's specific skill sets, they will be placed into a position that best suits their talents.
"We're coming in to support various staff-level billets that are already onboard with HLS," said Army Command Sergeant Major Charles Lamon. "We want, and hope, to be a part of developing a standard operating procedure that will help JFHQ-HLS fully stand up and we think we've got the expertise to supplement the full time people and active duty forces here."
As a National Guard unit, the 167th's role normally consists of logistical support, and is one of five major Alabama National Guard commands. Recently reorganized into a full theater support command, with new soldiers and a new mission, the 167th has grown from 124 to 439 personnel and in doing so can now fully support an operating theater rather than focusing primarily on logistical planning. From ammunition to command and control, the 167th is fully staffed and equipped to support a unified commander theater.
This deployment of the 167th is different in a couple of ways, explains Lamon. The fact that the mobilization is for a one-year deployment under Title 10 (activated under federal mobilization) rather than Title 32, which would use them to support an exercise or intrastate natural disaster under the control of the Governor or the Adjutant General (TAG).
"It's the real thing for us," said Lamon, "and something that you really don't think about happening to you and, all of a sudden, it crops up and off you go."
The mobilization is also unique in that specific members of the unit were mobilized, based upon their skill sets, instead of their rank and / or position and standing in the unit. While the unit has been partially mobilized in the past, most notably during Operation Desert Shield / Desert Storm, mobilizing only particular members of the headquarters company, based upon their specific and uniquely required attributes is uncommon, according to Lamon.
Working within a joint force environment is also something new to several soldiers of 167th. While the National Guard unit is accustomed to working mainly with other Army units and is most accustomed to the Army 'way of life', Lamon feels it will be a "welcome challenge" to work alongside members of the Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard and gain true joint experience.
Lamon, a native of Tuscumbia, Ala., explains that the morale of the troops, along with their expertise and 'can-do' attitudes, will act as the keys to success of the soldiers' while they are deployed.
"I talk with these people every day," says Lamon, the first Command Sergeant Major serving as the command's senior enlisted advisor. "They are eager to do their job and do their share. Every soldier we have here has been just fantastic and I think it speaks highly of the background and training that we've had. We are glad to be here and have come with the attitude of being ready to do our job and do it to the best of our ability.
"When our job is done here, and we walk out that door, we want to be known as soldiers, not just Alabama guardsmen."
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