Special National Guard Team Changes Command in Brooklyn

Media Advisory

Related Media

NEW YORK-- Two members of the 24th Civil Support Team check their gear before begining an operation. (Photo by NYG Pfc Ubon Mendie)

NEW YORK (03/08/2011)(readMedia)-- Command of the New York National Guard's 24th Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team (CST) will change from Army National Guard Lt. Col. Kaarlo Hietala to Major Jody Lupo during a ceremony at Fort Hamilton. The members of the CST are trained to rapidly identify radiological, biological, and chemical agents that might be used in a terrorist attack.

WHO: New York Air National Guard Chief of Staff Brig. Gen. Anthony German, Major Jody Lupo, incoming CST commander, and Lt. Col. Kaarlo Hietala, outgoing CST commander.

WHAT: Change-of-Command Ceremony.

WHEN: 11 a.m., Wednesday, March 9, 2011.

WHERE: 24th CST Vehicle Bay Building, Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, N.Y.

WHY: The Change of Command Ceremony dates back to the days in which a military unit's flag marked its position in the line of battle. The colors were always near the commander, so troops knew where to rally on the battlefield. Today the transfer of the colors marks a change in the unit and givens the soldiers their first opportunity to see and hear their new leader.

Visual and Coverage Opportunities: The Change of Command Ceremony involves the outgoing commander handing the unit colors to Major General Murphy, the commander of the 17,000-member New York National Guard, who will hand the colors to the incoming unit commander. The 24 members of the CST will be in formation behind their leaders during this transition.

Murphy, Lupo, and Hietala will all make brief remarks. They will be available for interviews.

The ceremony will start at 11 a.m. and last approximately 30 minutes.

For access to this secure military facility members of the media should contact Mr. Bruce Hall, the Fort Hamilton Media and Command Information manager at 718- 630-4780. Members of the media will need a photo ID to gain access to the post.

BACKGROUND:

The 24th Civil Support Team

The New York National Guard has two Civil Support Teams assigned to its force. The 2nd CST based in Scotia, NY (near Albany) and the 24th CST dedicated to cover New York City based at Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn. Civil Support Teams are specialized units comprised of 22 full time Army and Air National Guard professionals uniquely trained and equipped to respond to possible terrorist attacks or other events where chemical, biological, radiological or high yield explosive agents may have been used. On order, these units rapidly mobilize and deploy to communities to work for the civil authorities and for the civilian Incident Commander to detect the presence of contamination, identify it and assist with follow on support.

The 24th CST first formed in 2007 and was certified for operations in November 2010. In addition to training together, unit members also had to complete demanding service schools at various military bases in order to be certified for their specialties.

The Civil Support Team Program was initiated in 1998 in response to federal legislation designed to help prepare the nation for possible terrorist attacks that could involve the use of Weapons of Mass Destruction. The New York National Guard played a significant role in developing it.

New York was among the ten charter states that initially fielded a unit that was validated for emergency response in 2000. New York's 2nd CST was the first to respond to an actual terrorist attack when it was deployed to the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

Since that time, the CST program has grown such that there is a team in every state across the nation thus providing local support for possible terrorist attacks or industrial accidents with highly trained staff and state of the art capabilities. CSTs routinely conduct joint exercises with civilian fire departments and emergency response agencies. In New York, members of CSTs are often pro-actively positioned with federal, state and local security and emergency response agencies for large public events that could become terrorist targets.

For more imagery and video related to the unit's certification last fall, visit http://dmna.state.ny.us/index.php?id=1276029308.

Lt. Col. Kaarlo Hietala

Lt. Col. Kaarlo J. Hietala, Jr. is currently assigned as commander of the 24th Weapons of Mass Destruction-Civil Support Team in Brooklyn, N.Y. Hietala began his military career in 1989 where he enlisted in the Army Reserve as a Combat Engineer. LTC Hietala was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Infantry upon graduation from Siena College in 1993.

Hietala has served in a variety of assignments to include Rifle Platoon Leader (Operation Uphold Democracy, Haiti) and Executive Officer, 4th Battalion, 87th Infantry, Headquarters Company Executive Officer, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry, Headquarters Company Executive Officer, 3rd Brigade, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; Assistant Support Operations Officer, Division Ammunition Officer, General Support Operations Officer, Division Support Command, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; Operations Officer, Deputy Commander, Commander, 2nd WMD-CST, Scotia, New York; LOGCAP Officer and Deputy of the FOB Closure Team (Operation Iraqi Freedom III), 42d Infantry Division; and Battalion Executive Officer, 42d Special Troops Battalion in Troy, NY.

His military education includes completion of the Infantry Officers' Basic and Advanced Courses at Fort Benning, Georgia; the Ordnance Officer Ammunition Transition Course, Red Stone Arsenal, Alabama; Army Command and General Staff College, CST Pre-Command Course, J5 Technical Escort School and numerous WMD related schools.

His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal (2nd Oak Leaf Cluster), the Army Commendation Medal (2nd Oak Leaf Cluster), the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal (Oak Leaf Cluster), the Air Force Achievement Medal, the Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terror Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, the Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Army Service and Overseas Ribbons, Army Reserve Components Overseas Training Ribbon, Airborne and Air Assault badges, and the Expert Infantry Badge.

He is married to Pamela Byrne.

In his new assignment he will serve as the Deputy Director of Logistics at the Joint Force Headquarters-New York in Latham, and will attend the U.S. Army War College this spring.

Maj. Jody M. Lupo

Maj. Jody Lupo hails from Farmingdale, New York. He graduated from the State University of New York at Albany in 1998 where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Biology. Upon graduation he was commissioned a second lieutenant through the Reserve Officers Training Corps. In April of 2003 Major Lupo earned a Masters of Arts in the field of Business and Organizational Security Management from Webster University. Lupo's military education includes the Military Police Officers Basic Course, the Military Police Captains Career Course, and the Combined Arms Services Staff School, Civil Support Skills Course.

His military assignments overseas include platoon leader and executive officer, 554th Military Police Company in Stuttgart, Germany and Provost Marshal, 254th Brigade Support Battalion, Schinnen, the Netherlands. His stateside assignments include 89th Military Police Brigade, Fort Hood, Texas as an operations officer and law enforcement liaison officer, and later commander of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 89th Military Police Brigade.

In 2005 Lupo was assigned to the Hofstra University ROTC as an Assistant Professor of Military Science and later as the Recruiting Operations Officer. Prior to this command, Lupo served as Deputy Commander of the 24th Civil Support Team.

His deployments include Rijeka, Croatia in support of SFOR in 1999, and Operation Iraqi Freedom II in 2004.

His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, Army Commendation Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Medal, Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, and the NATO Medal.

Lupo is married to the former Leslie A. Colomban, also from Long Island.