New York National Guard Operational Update April 11, 2020

LATHAM, NY (04/11/2020) (readMedia)-- On Saturday April 11, the New York National Guard has 3,519 personnel on mission across the state.

This includes 2,937 New York Army National Guard Soldiers and 433 Air National Guard Airmen along with members of the New York Guard (State Defense Force), and New York Naval Militia.

Six Joint Task Forces are operating on Long Island, New York City, the Hudson Valley, Capital Region, Syracuse and Buffalo to support state and local governments. A Dual Status Command Task Force under the command of Brig. Gen. Michel Natali, the Assistant Adjutant General, Army, leads efforts to employ active and National Guard military resources in New York City.

The Dual Status Command is supporting the 1,400 military and civilian medical staff who work at Javits Convention Center in Manhattan and in New York City hospitals. New York National Guard members continue to manage the Javits site as the unified command post for the multi-agency response.

U.S. Army Soldiers of the 531st and 9th Hospital Centers, both part of the 44th Medical Brigade, are providing staffing at the Javits New York Medical Site. Additional medical staff from the U.S. Army Reserve, the Navy Reserve, the Air Force and the Civilian Medical Reserve Corps are also part of the mission.

New York Air National Guard Pararescue Airmen, who are trained as emergency medical technicians, from New York's 106th Rescue Wing, are also assisting in city hospitals.

The New York National Guard is also supporting the alternate care facility at the South Beach Psychiatric Center on Staten Island.

The New York National Guard is supporting 10 drive-thru testing sites, which have been conducting more than 5,000 tests daily. High winds and poor weather forced the closing of several sites on April 10, so only 2,864 tests were conducted.

The test sites are located at:

• SUNY Stony Brook;

• Jones Beach State Park; Staten Island;

• Glen Island State Park in Westchester County;

• The Anthony Wayne Service area in Rockland County;

• Lehman College and the Bay Plaza Mall in the Bronx;

• Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens;

• Brooklyn at a retail store parking lot in Flatbush;

And the SUNY Albany campus in Albany.

Soldiers and Airmen are collecting samples and providing general-purpose support at the testing locations.

National Guard personnel have been conducting food packaging and distribution in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Manhattan in New York City. Soldiers have distributed 619,356 meals as of April 9.

Similar missions continue in Westchester County in New Rochelle where 27,096 meal packages have been distributed and Albany County where 794 meals have been delivered to quarantined residents.

New York Soldiers and Airmen are also conducting logistics missions, including warehousing and commodity distribution of medical supplies at six sites in the Hudson Valley, the Albany area, and Mohawk Valley.

Hand sanitizer warehousing and deliveries continue today to locations across the lower Hudson Valley. More than 32,300 gallons of hand sanitizer have been delivered to local governments and facilities.

The New York National Guard continues to provide support to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of New York City. National Guard personnel are working with members of the Medical Examiner's Office to assist in the dignified recovery of human remains when required.

The National Guard Soldiers and Airmen, which includes members of specialized Air Guard Fatality Search and Recovery Teams, are being assisted by 70 Soldiers assigned to the active Army's 54th Quartermaster Company, who are providing staff assistance to the NYC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

New York National Guard members are providing administrative support to 911 call centers in New York City.

New York National Guard members continue to provide support to the New York State Coronavirus Hotline by working call centers in Rotterdam and Brooklyn on nights and weekends to offer updated information to the public and make appointments for testing. Soldiers spoke with 3,236 callers as of April 10and have provided response and support to 159,014 callers since the mission began March 11.

Soldiers continue packaging COVID-19 test kits for the New York State Department of Health at the Wadsworth Laboratory in Albany. They have assembled more than 69,100 kits since starting the mission.

New York National Guard images continue to go up on DVIDS: https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/NYNG, and our NY National Guard Flickr site, https://www.flickr.com/photos/nyng.

The New York National Guard Public Affairs Officer is Col. Richard Goldenberg. He can be reached at Richard.l.goldenberg.mil@mail.mil or (518) 786-6150.