December Blizzard Helped National Guard to Prepare for, Handle February Storms
The back-to-back February snowstorms caused nothing but headaches for most Marylanders, but the Maryland Army National Guard tried to learn from them.
During the state of emergency, guardsmen in Humvees helped first responders traverse snow-covered roads to get to fires and medical emergencies. State and Guard officials made changes after the December snow emergency that improved their ability to respond, but there is still room to improve, said Maryland Army National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Charles Kohler.
“Every time you do something like this, you get better at it,” he said. “There’s always lessons learned.”
A major lesson this winter is that the governor should declare a state of emergency as early as possible. In December, Gov. Martin O’Malley waited to declare an emergency until six inches of snow had fallen. By that time, the guardsmen were as snowed in as everyone else and had a hard time reporting to their armories. In February, guardsmen were activated before the snow arrived, allowing them to move into place before the roads became difficult to navigate.
Getting resources into place was also made easier by a new planning tactic: Rather than requiring guardsmen to report to their regular armory and follow their normal chain of command, a task force helped guide guardsmen to the closest armory.
“We have soldiers that live all over the place. … I drove by two armories to get to the 5th Regiment Armory (in Baltimore), and that wasn’t unique,” Kohler said. “It makes more sense for us to go to the closest armory versus trying to drive all the way to your armory.”
The task force “helped us look at it from the right perspective, and from a regional perspective,” Kohler said. “In other words, we didn’t care what unit the Frederick guys were assigned to, we sent them to the Frederick police barrack.”
This type of flexible “plug-and-play” organization allowed the right resources to be allocated throughout the state and “put our people in a position where they can be successful,” he said.
Overall, the Maryland Army National Guard responded well to the February blizzard. Officials identified areas for improvement, as well as things that weren’t necessarily an issue this time around but need to be kept in mind for future emergencies.
One problem: Many armories weren’t able to keep their own parking lots plowed, making it harder for guardsmen to park their personal cars and drive away in Humvees.
Officials also recognized the need to keep alert rosters updated. In the February storm, many Guard units were expected to report for their monthly drill that weekend and therefore were easily gathered. But In December, the snow hit right before Christmas, so many guardsmen were out shopping or had other holiday plans. Kohler said the timing of an emergency plays a big role in how well the National Guard responds, so communication needs to be seamless to help make up for bad timing.
Communication flowed well once the guardsmen were deployed on their missions. Through a conference calling program, the adjutant general was able to stay in touch with officers on the ground throughout the state. Kohler said 27 of the state’s 34 armories were used in the February snowstorm, making good communication key to success.
Another issue was the need to be prepared to respond to any situation. The National Guard trains at the same schools as the Army and is equally prepared for battle overseas, but taking those skills and applying them to domestic situations can be challenging.
Guardsmen were called to perform tasks around the state. Some guardsmen attached hoses and ladders to their Humvees to help firefighters. Two guardsmen delivered a baby in their Humvee when an ambulance couldn’t get through the snow to a Baltimore home.
Kohler said the guardsmen love helping their communities in any way needed, but “when our soldiers go out, they need to be very clear on what their role is working with the first responders.”
For example, they can legally make arrests. They tend not to because they aren’t well-trained in protecting the suspects’ rights and making arrests that would hold up in court. Kohler said the National Guard is looking into additional civil support training.
“Dealing with civilians is very different than dealing with a hostile enemy,” he said. “There are certainly ways you have to train to make sure you don’t treat them the same.”
Guardsmen suffered a few minor injuries, and the Humvees got a few dents and scratches from fender benders on icy roads. They lost a Humvee when a firehouse in Dundalk burned down with the National Guard Humvee inside. But overall they performed well during the snow emergency, Kohler said.
“In the military, just getting your soldiers from one place to another is a big exercise and a big logistics issue, and you have to think about everything,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re in a combat situation or working with the police or there’s a hurricane. … It takes a lot of coordination and planning to be successful at it, so every time we have an opportunity to do something like that, we get better at it.”
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