FOR RELEASE: Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024
CONTACT: Colorado National Guard Public Affairs, 720-250-1053, ng.co.coarng.list.staff-pao@army.mil
BUCKLEY SPACE FORCE BASE, Colo. – The Colorado National Guard, through an Emergency Management Assistance Compact request from the Florida National Guard, has deployed one CH-47 Chinook helicopter and eight crew members from the 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion 135th Regiment to Florida in preparation for Hurricane Milton response.
“Our unit has been closely following Hurricane Milton’s development and the National Guard’s response,” U.S. Army Lt. Col. Joe Bryant, commander, 2-135 GSAB said. “Last week the National Guard Bureau reached out to the force asking for available EMAC aid. We responded, and they accepted.”
The team departed from the Chief Warrant Officer 5 David R. Carter Army Aviation Support Facility at Buckley Space Force Base, Aurora, Colorado around 9 a.m. Oct. 8, 2024. The CH-47 is equipped with a hoist in anticipation of search and recovery support. They will join with other National Guard units to form a larger task force.
The unit previously supported relief efforts during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Colorado floods in 2013, and the Nebraska floods in 2019.
The EMAC is a national mutual aid partnership agreement allowing state-to-state assistance during state or federally declared emergencies. The EMAC is about governors helping governors in need.