Sgt. Jordan Osowski and Spc. Jacob Weible, both with the 1st Battalion, 188th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, patrol a dike in Neche, N.D., April 21, 2011. About a dozen North Dakota National Guardsmen are on flood duty in Neche.

On one end of the Red River Valley, Wahpeton and Fargo have breathed sighs of relief at surviving another flood. The northern end of the valley is just bracing for their crests, though, and the North Dakota National Guard is there to help in Walhalla, Pembina, Drayton and Neche, N.D.

Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 188th Air Defense Artillery Regiment have been placed in these towns to monitor dikes and respond to emergency situations, such as leaks and breaches in dikes. They also have equipment available should anyone need to be evacuated.

Twelve soldiers are stationed in Neche, their primary role being dike patrolling. Six soldiers patrol during the day and six patrol at night.

Southwest of town, there is a road that acts as a dam holding back a large amount of water. Two soldiers are stationed to watch the road at night to monitor any possible breaks in the road.

“We are here to help the people,” said Sgt. 1st Class Terry Stickel, of Lehr, N.D. “If the road holding back all the water breaks, the people may be in trouble without us.”

In Walhalla, 24 soldiers alternate 12-hour shifts, ensuring a dozen soldiers are available at any given time of the day as a quick response force, or QRF. The team stands ready to respond to emergencies in Neche, Pembina and Walhalla.

In Drayton, another dozen Guardsmen continue to patrol levees and monitor pumps. The city has had the longest running Guard presence in the northern Red River Valley, with Guard members beginning their mission there on April 11.

In Pembina, Guardsmen work closely with community volunteers to patrol the dikes. Four Guardsmen help community members during the day, and seven are on duty at night.

Capt. Walyn Vannurden, of Cavalier, N.D., serves as the liaison officer for Pembina County. He expressed confidence in how the situation looks in those areas.

“We brought up a lot of soldiers, a lot of support, a lot of assets and vehicles to support the communities,” he said. “If there’s an emergency situation, we’re here to help. We’re ready to respond at a moment’s notice.”

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Story by Pfc. Jessica Raasch

Farmland near Valley City, N.D., April 23. About 140 National Guard members are fighting the flood here patrolling dikes, checking pumps and conducting Quick Reaction Force operations. Photo by Sgt. Jesica Geffre

Staff Sgt. Marie Hovrud, from Bismarck, N.D., North Dakota National Guard is a crew chief with 2/285th Helicopter Assault Battalion currently supporting the flood fight here. She and more than 400 fellow Guardsmen are serving on flood duty through the Easter weekend, some of them serving with the Guard for the second and even third year in a row.

Part of Hovrud’s job is to direct the helicopters when they have a load to bring in on a long-line, a long cable that holds cargo that needs to be placed somewhere specific. The crew is also trained on hoist missions, which involves lowering a basket that a rescuer rides down in to pick up a passenger that is stranded.

Hovrud says the benefit of being close by is that they can react quickly in an emergency.

“My mother lives in an area that was affected by the flood in previous years and she said she feels better knowing the National Guard is close by,” Havrud said. “If something happens, we’re right here when they need us.”

This will be her third Easter away from home due to military obligations, last year she was deployed to Iraq and in 2009 she was in North Dakota fighting the floods in several locations.

Hovrud said the ’09 experience was extremely beneficial to this year’s effort.

“We dropped so many sandbags that year, we really got it down.”

Chief Warrant Officer 2 David Kilber, 1/112th Headquarters and Headquarters Company, a pilot on the Quick Reaction Force here, said he is happy to be participating in the flood fight.

“I love it,” Kilber said. “I volunteered for this; it’s a great way to get real-world experience.”

Kilber flies the Utility Helicopter 60 Black Hawk that is being used in the flood fight to conduct reconnaissance missions, help in emergency rescues and assist the Quick Reaction Force in placing the large one-ton sandbags to re-enforce the levee system when necessary.

Spc. Shane Leingang, an Aviation Operations Specialist with C Company 2/285th AHB, has been on the flood fight since the beginning of April. Leingang is the communication link between the Joint Operations Center and 2/285th AHB.

His job focuses on the logistical aspect of moving aircraft and personnel related to the mission in Cass County.

The unit is part of the Quick Reaction Force that would respond to overland flooding by hoisting the one-ton sandbags into places difficult to reach by land.

“In 2009 we did a lot and it worked well,” Leingang said. “So they wanted us on standby again this year.”

Currently, the NDNG has about 150 Guardsmen in Valley City. They are conducting Quick Reaction Force missions, dike patrols, and running a Tactical Operations Center. One Black Hawk helicopter is on hand to assist with sandbag placement or search and rescue missions if needed.

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Story by Sgt. Jesica Geffre

Maj. Brock Larson, the N.D. National Guard state partnership program director, right, discusses flood protection measures, April 14, with Ghanaian Dignitary Col. Isaac Mensah Tetteh near the Red River in Fargo, N.D. Col. Isaac Mensah Tetteh serves as the director of land operations at the General Headquarters for the Ghana, Africa, army. Photo by Senior Master Sgt. David Lipp

The 91-degrees-and-humid African country of Ghana and the snow-still-falling-in-April state of North Dakota may, at first blush, seem to have very little in common. There’s more to the partnership between the two entities than one might imagine, though.

“Ghana has the same kind of disasters we have in North Dakota. They have floods, drought and windstorms, but, in addition to that, they also have pestilence, avian flu, those types of things that they worry about,” said Doug Friez, a retired North Dakota Guardsman who has worked closely with Ghana. “Ghana’s climate is a little different, but their disasters are very similar.”

Through the Department of Defense-sponsored State Partnership Program, Ghana and North Dakota have been exchanging information and guidance since 2003. Although the partnership’s primary relationship has been between the North Dakota National Guard and Ghana Armed Forces, civilians, educators and disaster-management experts have all benefited from the ties in recent years. This week is the first time that disaster management information could be tied into the program during an actual natural disaster.

“I think this is the best opportune time to come around. In fact, the day we were landing in Bismarck, we saw a lot from the air. And what we have seen (in Fargo) really goes a long way to tell us a lot,” said Col. Isaac Mensah Tetteh, director of land operations at the General Headquarters for the Ghana Army.

Both Tetteh and Kofi Portuphy, the national coordinator for Ghana’s National Disaster Management Agency, or NADMO, spent this week touring and meeting with officials in all levels of disaster management. They also explored how the use of GIS, or geospatial information systems, could benefit their natural disaster response.

As in North Dakota, the military works closely with government agencies in disaster management.

“The armed forces support NADMO. We are the civil sector and they are the military sector, so (we) bring military resources to bear on our planning, our training, our response, our recovery programs,” Portuphy said. “And, this principally is an invitation by our partners, the National Guard, to expose us to the use of the GIS system, the WebEOC and what support the National Guard air, land, sea (and) Coast Guard are giving to the flood response.”

They spent yesterday in Fargo, starting the morning with a briefing at Joint Task Force-East (JTFE), where the North Dakota National Guard manages their flood operations for eastern North Dakota.

“My intent … was just to show them how we’re actually managing all of the information and leveraging technology to help us manage our Common Operating Picture,” said Col. Steve Tabor, JTFE commander. “We walked them through a lot of the info that we’re leveraging from other agencies. We’ve got data from DoT, we have some of the city’s data that we’ve incorporated into GIS, we’ve actually walked them through the National Guard Mapper GIS program that we have.”

The use of GIS is one aspect Tetteh is anxious to share with his counterparts when he returns home.

“Info sharing through the GIS system is perfect, and it goes a long way in trying to develop a very rapid response to issues, and I think that it’s one of the issues, that among others, that we have in Ghana,” he said.

From right to left Col. Ron Solberg, the N.D. National Guard JTFE vice-commander, Col. Steve Tabor, the N.D. National Guard Joint Task Force East commander, Kofi Portuphy, the Ghana national coordinator for the National Disaster Management Agency, or NADMO, and Col. Isaac Mensah Tetteh, director of land operations at the General Headquarters for the Ghana Army, tour flood protection measure, April 14, along the Red River, Fargo, N.D. Kofi Portuphy serves as the Ghana national coordinator for the National Disaster Management Agency, or NADMO. Photo by Senior Master Sgt. David Lipp

After seeing how operations are managed, the Ghanaians took to the streets of Fargo on a tour led by Tabor to see the various flood products employed by the city, such as sandbags, Trap Bags, permanent flood walls, Big Bag systems, permanent earthen dikes, temporary clay levees, Hesco barriers and the AquaFence

North Dakota National Guard Joint Task Force East leaders and visiting Ghanaian dignitaries tour flood protection measures, April 14, including this aqua fence in Fargo, N.D. The Ghanaian dignitaries are visiting the North Dakota National Guard as part of a state partnership program between the African country of Ghana and the North Dakota National Guard. Since 2003, the North Dakota National Guard has developed a professional relationship with Ghana as part of the Department of Defense's State Partnership Program. This program aligns states with partner countries to encourage the development of economic, political and military ties.

“We had a good opportunity to show them a lot of different methods that the City of Fargo is using to help them protect the citizens of the community from the flood,” Tabor said. “I think they were duly impressed. … Once they got on top of the levees we pointed out where the river channel is normally versus today. That certainly put it into perspective for them, and they realized just how big of a flood event is going on here.”

As the entourage looked at the backyard of a home using a sandbag dike and the Big Bag system, Col. Ron Solberg, deputy commander for JTFE, commented on the water level.
“It’s usually down about 24 feet,” he said.

“24 feet? Really?” asked Portuphy in amazement.

Portuphy has seen a lot of disasters over the years. Friez referred to him as “the father of disaster management in Ghana,” also saying that “he’s the Craig Fugate of the United States; he’s the director of their FEMA.”

Indeed, Portuphy, who founded NADMO, has even trained with FEMA. Despite his wealth of experience, he still was impressed with operations in Fargo.

“We have seen since we arrived here on Sunday the EOCs for the National Guard, the national EOC centers, the state EOC centers in Bismarck and in Fargo here. We’ve seen the EOC centers also set up by the joint task force here …,” Portuphy said. “And what we have seen is overwhelming in terms of preparedness, in terms of response, in terms of coordination between the city EOC, the Joint Task Force EOC, the National Guard EOC; it’s worth emulating because we have learned a lot about what to do in terms of coordination.”

Besides coordination, the tools used in the flood were another key takeaway for the men.

“They were telling us today that Ghana actually has a lot of similar areas,” Tabor said. “When they get flood events happening, one of the reasons they get as severe as they do or as widespread is because they happen in areas where the terrain is very flat. So, I’m hoping today that some of the stuff we were able to show them will maybe provide some food for thought to help them deal with and mitigate some of the flood events that they experience over there, as well.”

There’s little doubt that the trip was valuable to both partners.

“It’s fantastic. I can’t believe what I’m seeing,” Tetteh said. “I believe that there’s a lot to learn and a lot to take home. Right on from the joint operations center, right on from the emergency operations center, both at the state level and the county level, we have seen a lot that we think we can take back home.”

Their trip ends today with a bit of North Dakota culture and history during a tour of the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center. Before seeing it, Tetteh was already convinced during this, his first trip to North Dakota, that it’s a “very beautiful place (with) very hard-working people.”

Maj. Brock Larson, the North Dakota National Guard’s State Partnership Program director, summed up this week’s trip and the next step it took in the eight-year-old relationship between the partners.

“It was an incredible opportunity to be able to host Col. Tetteh and Mr. Portuphy, who represent Ghana’s military and the National Disaster Management Organization, here both at the same time to experience first-hand how our National Guard integrates with our Civil Services not only with manpower and equipment, but also technologically during emergency management operations,” he said.

“During the week we were able to visit all levels of emergency operation centers within the state and supporting agencies to gain their perspectives. This visit will only strengthen our already mature relationship with Ghana and help us focus our efforts during our future exchanges with Ghana.

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Spc. Krista M. Dahl (right), a North Dakota National Guard Soldier from Devils Lake, patrols the dike in Pembina with local volunteers, Peggy S. Reimer and her daughter Alexis C. Morrison. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class David Dodds

Two stories in this post.

Residents here, one of North Dakota’s oldest settlements “” are accustomed to the springtime ritual when the Red River ignores its banks, making life difficult.

To help the residents of Pembina this spring, about 12 Soldiers from the North Dakota National Guard’s 134th Quartermaster Detachment, out of Cavalier, N.D., are patrolling the city’s dikes around the clock, looking for problem spots. The Guard has been in town since Saturday.

Pembina residents volunteer their time, too, walking the dike lines every two hours, 24 hours a day, said Nancy R. Thompson, city auditor and flood coordinator. They also operate the “command center” based at the city’s community center.

“The Guard has helped relieve pressure from the local citizens,” Thompson said. “We are glad to see them here because a lot of the volunteers have jobs during the day.”

As of Monday, the National Weather Service was projecting the Red River at Pembina would crest at about 52.5 feet on Friday. It’s expected to remain in major flood stage for a week or longer.

In 2006, the Red River at Pembina reached 51.45 feet. For the most part, the river has been easily contained by the city’s flood-control project that was constructed after the massive 1997 flood.

The top of Pembina’s permanent dike is built to 57.3 feet. However, residents must remain vigilant well before that stage. Once the river reaches 48 feet, the townspeople begin a volunteer dike patrol. That effort started Friday here.

The recent cold weather has slowed the snow from melting and the river’s rise.

“The residents of Pembina have been showing us what to look for when walking the dikes,” said Spc. Crystal R. Anderson, of Kennedy, Minn., a Soldier with the 134th.

“Once we have a handle on things here, two Soldiers every two hours will patrol the dike,” added, Sgt. Brian I. Radway, of Grand Forks.

The 134th was alerted for state active duty on March 27, joining the flood fight in Fargo.

There are about 400 National Guard Soldiers and Airmen staged out of Grand Forks, prepared to fight flooding and monitor dike lines throughout the northern Red River Valley. Smaller groups of Guard members, such as those in Pembina, also are located in Drayton and Cavalier.

Guard Soldiers, such as Spc. Krista M. Dahl, have become old pros at monitoring dikes since floodwaters began to overwhelm the entire state in late March.

“I volunteered to help out in Fargo and then we were activated,” said Dahl, a native of Devils Lake, N.D. “I spent about two weeks walking dikes there and then we were sent here to help.”

Also, two 134th Soldiers have been monitoring a generator that runs an important sewer lift station in Pembina.

“Things are looking good here. We run the generator about a half an hour a day,” said Spc. Kurt A. Morton, of Cavalier. “When it’s not running we make sure it’s in good running condition in case of an emergency.”

Morton said the residents of Pembina have been extremely supportive and have taken care of the troops in their city. He couldn’t thank them enough.

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Story by Sgt. 1st Class David Dodds

America’s southern border with Mexico is famous for its miles of barrier fences aimed at regulating access to the country.

The North Dakota National Guard has built a blockade of its own on the nation’s northern border, at the Canadian port-of-entry here. But, this time, instead of illegal aliens or the narcotics trade, Mother Nature is the target.

The swelling Red River is creeping within 300 feet of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Station. About 40 Soldiers from the 815th Engineer Company, based out of Edgeley, N.D., arrived on the scene Saturday and installed 3,600 feet of large modular baskets lined with a heavy-duty fabric that hold compacted sand.

These HESCO barriers now ring the Pembina border station, forming an island amid the river flooding. The Soldiers were prepared to install as much as 4,500 feet of the barriers, but arrived to find the job a little less extensive than anticipated. The barriers, manufactured by HESCO Inc., of Hammond, La., originally were designed for flood and hillside-erosion control, but they also proved effective in Iraq and Afghanistan as a shield against enemy fire.

HESCOs can be installed more quickly than a traditional sandbag levee.

1st Lt. Collin J. Kappenman, of Fargo, N.D., officer in charge of the mission, said “basically, we have brought the manpower and the knowledge to get this done.”

Three tractor-trailers were loaded with the HESCO barriers on pallets at the Grand Forks Armed Forced Reserve Center before they were sent north to the border. There, skid-steer loaders made quick work of unloading the cargo.

Soldiers set up the HESCOs as civilian contractors filled them with sand brought in from nearby Cavalier, N.D.

“Today, the Soldiers did exceptionally well, completing our mission and getting the HESCOs set up quickly,” said Capt. Trevor Y. Bakalar, commander of the 815th Engineer Company, as April 4 drew to a close.

The 815th is headquartered in Edgeley, and has detachments in Lisbon, Wishek and Jamestown, N.D.

The dike around the border station was built to protect up to 53 feet, said Jack F. Gerberding, a building manager with General Services Administration. The projected river crest near the border station could be between 52 and 54 feet. The HESCO barriers will add an additional four feet to the dike system, raising it to 57 feet, which “should give us enough freeboard,” he said.

The 815th will have teams poised to respond to any breach in the HESCO dikes that might develop.

“We will stay here until we have finished and then become a quick-reaction force,” said Sgt. 1st Class Sam T. Hansen, of Leeds, N.D, a member of the 815th. “From Grand Forks, we will also be able to respond to emergencies in Drayton, Cavalier and Pembina.”

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Story by Sgt. 1st Class David Dodds

Flood operations continue in North Dakota today, while missions in two other states have wrapped up and still another monitors the situation after heavy rains over the weekend.

More than 1,000 Guard members in North Dakota are still performing flood mitigation operations in the Red River Valley and the Missouri River areas, which are experiencing flooding due to the thawing of snow.

Current operations include including pumping operations in Lisbon, N.D., hauling gravel, and flood protection efforts in Drayton, N.D. They are being helped by UH-60 Black Hawk and CH-47 Chinook helicopters from Minnesota and Wisconsin.

In addition to active flood-fighting, the Guard is also protecting North Dakota citizens through dike patrols, temporary shelters and traffic control points.

Army Lt. Dan Murphy, the state public affairs officer for North Dakota, said troops will remain in place to monitor the river. A date has not been set for ending the mission.

North Dakota’s neighbor across the river, Minnesota, relieved most of its Guard members from flood duty in the Moorhead, Minn., area April 3.

A small contingent remains on duty to monitor the river and pump operations in Norman and Marshall counties, provide security in the form of roving patrols and traffic control points as well as transportation and aviation support.

At the height of operations, more than 500 Minnesota Army and Air National Guard members were called up by the governor.

Louisiana also ended its response to a potential flood in Pearl River, a town on the state’s border with Mississippi.

Guard and state officials monitored the weather and used the opportunity to train for the 2009 flood season by positioning high-water vehicles and helicopters in nearby Slidell and Hammond, La., to facilitate property protection and evacuation if necessary.

After the training, Guard officials said the troops are well prepared for any event that may come their way.

“Our Soldiers responded in a timely, professional manner in support of civil authorities and the local community,” said Army Col. John Angelloz, commander of the 225th Engineer Brigade (Rear). “Their actions are a direct reflection of outstanding emergency operations training, tremendous leadership and a great volunteer spirit.”

In Georgia, the state Joint Force Headquarters will continue to work with its civilian partners after heavy rains drenched the state over the weekend. Gov. Sonny Perdue declared a state of emergency in 10 counties today.

According to National Guard Bureau, the Federal Emergency Management Agency reported one fatality, two shelters were opened and numerous bridges and roads were closed throughout the state.

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Story by Sgt. Patrick McCollum