FOR RELEASE: Monday, August 10, 2021
CONTACT: Colorado National Guard Public Affairs, 720-250-1053, ng.co.coarng.list.militarysupport@mail.mil
Colorado National Guard supports traffic management during state’s mudslide response
CENTENNIAL, Colo. – Under executive authority, approximately twenty members of the Colorado National Guard are supporting traffic management during the state’s mudslide response along Interstate 70 near Glenwood Canyon and Cottonwood Pass.
Gov. Jared Polis declared a state of emergency which authorized the use of unarmed CONG assets for law enforcement purposes supporting statewide burn scar flooding, mudslides, rockslides, and direct consequences of these events.
At the request of the State Emergency Operations Center, CONG support began Aug. 8, 2021, and will continue until additional support is no longer needed.
“By order of the Governor, the Colorado National Guard is here to support state authorities at their request,” Director of the Joint Staff U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Scott Sherman said. “We will employ our wartime mission training and equipment during this state response.”
Support for the state’s COVID-19 response mission, the longest and largest response in the CONG’s more than 160-year history, continues uninterrupted.
During COVID, CONG members have simultaneously supported other state missions such as wildland firefighting, multiple search and rescue missions, cyber defense operations, and the peaceful transition of power during the Presidential Inauguration.