by Jim Morris, Warrior Vice President, News
The US military is preparing for the expected onslaught of Hurricane Milton on two fronts – first, by deploying active-duty forces to support government recovery efforts and also by moving units out of the way of the hurricane’s expected path.
At the same time, the Pentagon is still dealing with the destruction caused earlier in Florida, the Carolinas and Georgia by Hurricane Helene.
“In North Carolina we’ve deployed over 1,500 active-duty soldiers helping with emergency route clearance, rotary-wing search and rescue, and the delivery of food, water and other needed resources in the hardest affected areas in western North Carolina,” according to a transcript of remarks by Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh.
“On top of that, you have the US Corps of Engineers, who have nearly 500 personnel manning 12 emergency operations centers throughout the areas impacted by Hurricane Helene, to include three of those in North Carolina.”
Singh said the foundation of the military’s response comes from the National Guard. There are roughly 5,000 Guard members from 19 states deployed in impacted communities. And in Florida, another 5,000 Guard members have been mobilized to prepare for the aftermath of Hurricane Milton.
Singh also noted that the Army is “preparing high-water vehicles, helicopters for search and rescue operations…and has moved personnel and equipment from their contingency command post to Fort Moore, Georgia.”
Meanwhile, MacDill Air Force Base – located just outside of Tampa – is bracing for Milton. Mandatory evacuation orders were issued Monday for a number of personnel and dependents – the second time in three weeks that has happened. MacDill is just 14 feet above sea level, and it suffered minor flood damage from Helene’s storm surge.
Hurricane Milton could be worse
“The main concern for MacDill is that storm surge,” the base’s chief of public affairs, Capt. Kaitlyn Butler, told The New York Times. “ It is critical to us to protect personnel, mission partners and our air power.”
MacDill has sent 12 of its KC-135 tanker planes to McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas to escape the hurricane.
Elsewhere, seven F-16s from Homestead Air Reserve Base near Miami have been flown to San Antonio. Planes from naval air stations in Mayport, Jacksonville and Key West are being sent elsewhere or will be storied in hangers.
