Virginia National Guard ready to help during winter storm

RICHMOND, Va. (WDBJ/VNG Release) - About 65 Virginia National Guard soldiers are staged and ready Tuesday at VNG facilities along the I-95 and Route 29 corridors, as well as the Southwest Virginia area, to support the response to winter weather impacting Virginia, according to VNG.

The personnel will link up with local emergency managers to provide assistance if needed.

“Virginia localities have robust response capabilities, but they count on the Virginia National Guard to provide additional resources when needed,” said Brig. Gen. Todd H. Hubbard, VNG Director of the Joint Staff. “Our Soldiers quickly and safely moved to their staging locations on very short notice so they are ready to assist when the winter weather hits. We continue to get great administrative and logistics support from the Virginia Defense Force, and we also owe a special thanks to our families and employers for everything they do to make sure our personnel can conduct the mission.”

VNG troops are organized in chainsaw teams capable of reducing debris to help clear roads and power line routes, and troops have heavy duty tactical trucks capable of traveling through deep snow or high water.

Black Hawk helicopters with rescue hoist capabilities are also alerted and on standby.

About 20 additional Soldiers and members of the Virginia Defense Force are on duty to provide logistics, maintenance and administrative support for the response teams at their staging locations, according to VNG. Soldiers and Airmen also are providing mission command support at the VNG’s Joint Force Headquarters in Richmond.

During domestic operations, the VNG responds as part of a multi-agency team with other state and local agencies to provide support capability requests submitted through the Virginia Emergency Support Team by Virginia localities.