MINNEAPOLIS -- Secretary of Transportation, the Honorable Mary E. Peters, visited the site of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse here, where Department of Defense forces are supporting search and recovery efforts.
Secretary Peters met with Army Col. Mike Chesney, the Defense Coordinating Officer responsible for all military assets supporting civil authorities here.
Chesney, deployed from FEMA Region V in Chicago, along with Navy Cmdr. Dan Schultz, commanding officer of Navy Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit TWO (MDSU-2), briefed the Secretary on the overall efforts of the Defense Coordinating Element and the Navy divers in support of Hennepin County responders, the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.
The deployment of DoD assets was at the specific request of Secretary Peters, who is the designated Principal Federal Official for the incident.
Secretary Peters praised the Defense Department’s efforts in Minneapolis over the past several days and thanked the DoD forces for their support.
“DOD has been incredibly responsive to anything that this community has needed,” she said. “I think their response has really made the community appreciate how much America’s military is there to support our nation, not only in a time of war but in a time of human need.
“The Soldiers and Sailors here really helped this community out immediately. Everyone I’ve talked to from the governor, the mayor, members of the City Council, and many other people have just been so impressed with the response.”
The DCE was augmented by personnel from US Army North, Fort Sam Houston, Texas. The DCO and his staff are operationally assigned to Army North, which provides defense support of civil authorities as the Army component of U.S. Northern Command, the unified command headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., that is responsible for homeland defense and civil support.