Georgia
Department
of Defense
Responds to
Hurricane
Michael Above, Brigadier General Randall V. Simmons, Commander, Georgia Army National Guard, and
28 | November 2018 | Real Hero Report
Command Sgt. Maj. Shawn D. Lewis, state command sergeant major, Georgia Army National Guard,
and Command Chief Master Sgt. Reginald McPherson, state command chief master sergeant, Georgia
Air Guard, met with representatives from the Georgia Emergency Management Agency and Georgia
Department of Transportation during Hurricane Michael relief efforts. (Georgia Army National Guard
photo by Sgt. Amy King.)
As Tropical Storm Michael evolved into a category 2
hurricane, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal declared a
State of Emergency for 92 Georgia Counties on October
9, 2018. With the storm nearly 700 miles south of the coast of
Alabama, the Georgia Department of Defense issued a warning
order in preparation for hurricane response operations.
In addition to increasing full-time stafng and operational
hours at the Joint Operations Center, the warning order instructed
commanders to be prepared to support Georgia Emergency
Management Agency requests for support to local authorities.
The Georgia Department of Defense (GDOD) order anticipated
support for points of distribution (POD), transportation and
distribution support for Georgia Emergency Management &
Homeland Security Agency (GEMA), route clearance packages
and military police support for local authorities. In addition,
liaison teams were identied to disperse to county emergency
management agencies.
Georgia State Defense Force volunteers were the rst boots on
the ground in response to Hurricane Michael, providing support
to local EMAs in Crisp, Turner, Tift and Lowndes Counties and
assisting sheltering operations in Bibb County.
Joint Task Force Hydra, led by the Columbus-based 648th
Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, served as the main effort for
hurricane response. The brigade’s Augusta-based 878th Engineer
Battalion and Ellenwood-based 348th Brigade Support Battalion
were augmented by the 201st Regional Support Group’s 170th
Military Police Battalion, based in Decatur. Additional units
such as the 1148th Transportation Battalion of the 78th Troop
Command and aviation assets of the 78th Aviation Troop
Command were directed to support Task Force Hydra. Georgia
Air National Guard teams from Savannah’s 165th Airlift Wing
and 116th Air Control Wing provided route clearance and
distributed supplies.
While Governor Deal authorized the activation of up to 1,500
Georgia National Guard Soldiers and Airmen on state active duty
orders, the response efforts peaked with 937 Guardsmen operating
212 vehicles and operating 11 PODs.
Throughout the response efforts, the leadership of the GDOD,
the governor’s ofce and GEMA maintained constant contact,
with Guardsmen supporting GEMA’s State Operations Center to
coordinate with other state agencies.
One signicant event occurred on October 15, when Georgia
Air and Army National Guard personnel assisted a Seminole
County resident who had been without food and water for six
days. The Guardsmen alerted 911, and a medical team responded
to provide onsite treatment.
On the evening of October 17, a joint patrol of Seminole
County law enforcement and military police of the Kennesawbased
190th MP Company responded to a structure re. Sgt.
Blake Moke, a reghter and advanced emergency management
technician with the Clayton County Fire and Emergency
Management Services, entered the structure and assisted Spring
Creek Fire Department volunteers in extinguishing the blaze.
Georgia Guard Soldiers began returning home October 18. That
same day, Soldiers of the 348th BSB set up a mobile kitchen at
the Seminole County EOC to provide hot meals for those Soldiers
and volunteers still conducting relief operations.
Georgia Guardsmen continued to support hurricane relief
operations through October 26, when the last Guardsmen returned
to home station and to their families.
Right, U.S. Air Force Airmen
from the 165th Airlift Wing,
Georgia National Guard, prepare
to support Hurricane Michael
relief efforts in Seminole
County, Georgia, assisting
with debris removal and route
clearance. (U.S. Air National
Guard photo by Tech. Sgt.
Amber Williams.)