New York National Guard Operational Update, April 25, 2020

LATHAM, NY (04/25/2020) (readMedia)-- On Saturday, April 25, the New York National Guard has 3,626 personnel on mission across the state.

This includes 2,996 New York Army National Guard Soldiers and 464 Air National Guard Airmen. Members of the New York Guard (State Defense Force) and New York Naval Militia are also mobilized for the mission.

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 2,700 military and civilian medical staff working at Javits and in New York City hospitals. U.S. Army Soldiers of the 44th Medical Brigade are providing staffing at the Javits New York Medical Station.

Additional medical staff from the U.S. Army Reserve, the Navy Reserve, the Air Force and the Civilian Medical Reserve Corps are also working at the alternative care site.

More than 1,086 patients have been treated at the Javits New York Medical Station.

New York National Guard members continue to manage the Javits site as the unified command post for the multi-agency response.

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 supporting the alternate care facility at the South Beach Psychiatric Center on Staten Island. Additional forces are providing support at three other potential alternate care sites on Long Island or Westchester.

The New York National Guard continues to support 10 drive-thru testing sites. There were 5,242 tests conducted on April 24.

Sites are located at:

• SUNY Stony Brook;

• Jones Beach State Park;

• Staten Island adjacent the Staten Island University Hospital;

• 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;

And at SUNY Albany in Albany.

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

National Guard personnel continue food packaging and distribution today in the Bronx, Yonkers, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Manhattan in New York City, providing 55,431meals on April 23. Soldiers have distributed 2,235,671 meals since beginning the mission.

Similar food distribution missions are underway in Westchester County but are on hold over the weekend. National Guard troops distributed 2,307meals on April 23, and have provided 82,490 meal packages since the start of the mission. In Albany County 2,432, meals have been delivered to quarantined residents or picked up as of April 23.

New York National Guard Soldiers and Airmen have been working at the regional food bank in Latham, N.Y. and have prepared 97 pallets of food for shipment across northeastern New York.

Soldiers helping to process and ship goods at the regional food bank in Schenectady, N.Y., delivered 1,711 meals as of April 23. A similar food distribution mission commenced in Chenango County on April 21 and 2,804 meals have been distributed as of April 23. An additional food support mission was conducted on Friday, April 24 in Amsterdam, Montgomery County.

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

Soldiers have distributed 3.8 million protective masks to five counties since the mission began and moved another six pallets of masks on April 23. At Stewart Air National Guard Base, Soldiers working the warehouse mission delivered 41 pallets of personal protective equipment to multiple locations.

Hand sanitizer delivery to areas in the lower Hudson Valley is still ongoing. On April 23, 6,666 gallons were dropped off at 70 locations in the lower Hudson Valley. A total of 45,335 gallons of sanitizer have been distributed.

The National Guard continues to provide logistics 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 removal of human remains when required. Soldiers assigned to the active Army's 54th Quartermaster Company are also providing staff assistance to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner on New York City. Soldiers from a number of units are conducting this mission under the control of the 369th Sustainment Brigade.

The support mission also includes assistance to the Westchester and Orange County Medical Examiners.

Soldiers continue to man phones at two New York City call centers, including one for the New York City Division of Veterans Services. New York National Guard Soldiers continue to provide administrative support at two New York City 911 call centers.

Soldiers continue packaging COVID-19 test kits for the New York State Department of Health at the Wadsworth Laboratory in Albany. They assembled more 16,000 kits April 23 for distribution across the state. The team has built 373,050 testing 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), 786-4581.