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Press Release | Sept. 21, 2018

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE TRANSITIONS ASSETS IN THE CAROLINAS

U.S. Northern Command Public Affairs

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo.  –  

In close coordination with Federal Emergency Management Agency and state officials, the Department of Defense is tailoring its forward force structure to meet the current needs of the Hurricane Florence response effort. DoD will be returning some personnel and capabilities to their home stations, allowing them to resume other DoD missions. However, these and other DoD units will be available to support, if needed.

DoD played an important role in the response to Hurricane Florence. This included a robust response from the National Guard, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Defense Logistics Agency and by local military installations. U.S. Northern Command served as the DoD synchronizer and brought additional DoD capabilities and capacity to the hurricane response efforts.

The overall response has exemplified how the National Response Framework is designed to work.

"There has been a strong local response from first responders all the way through to the state and their emergency operations centers. This is coupled with the strong National Guard support and the broader response from FEMA and DoD," said Gen. Terrence O’Shaughnessy, Commander, North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command.

Active duty Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines, as well as those military assets not actively being employed in rescue operations, such as the Navy’s Amphibious Readiness Group, with Marines embarked from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, are positioning back to their home stations where they will continue preparation for their upcoming deployments and other military operations. Many of the service members who are returning from being positioned to support hurricane operations live in communities affected by the storm and will now be able to return to their communities and continue assisting with recovery and clean-up locally.

While USNORTHCOM’s number one priority is homeland defense, helping Americans in

their greatest time of need will always be a sacred responsibility. We are members of the affected communities and are proud to be part of the response efforts.