NEW YORK GUARD

NY Guard Lends Expertise to Response Force

NEW YORK STATE PREPAREDNESS TRAINING CENTER, ORISKANY, N.Y. - New York Guard Staff Sgt. Francisco Hernandez of the 88th Brigade unravels water hoses used in the FEMA Region II Homeland Response Force decontamination line here May 16. About 50 state guard members train alongside their New York Army National Guard counterparts from the 222nd Chemical Company as part of the decontamination element of the Homeland Response Force. The HRF responds to Chemical, Biological, Radiological or Nuclear incidents in support of civil authorities for FEMA Region II, including New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Photo by Warrant Officer Ubon Mendie, New York Guard. Posted: Wed, May 16, 2012         more..

The New York Guard

The New York Guard is a state volunteer force which augments and supports the New York National Guard as required with manpower and skills.

New York Guard members serve in an unpaid status unless they are placed on State Active Duty by the governor and they cannot be mobilized for federal duty. They assist the National Guard in planning, training for and executing state emergency support and disaster missions. And provide legal and medical pre-deployment assistance to the National Guard units and other reserve components as requested.

Many New York Guard members are retired members of the National Guard and other military services, however military experience is not a prerequisite to membership.

The New York Guard was born in World War I when the New York National Guard, a division’s worth of Soldiers, was mobilized; first for service on the Mexican border and then to fight in France. The New York Guard replaced the National Guard and served as a home guard, mounting guard on the New York City reservoirs.

Today members of the New York Guard assist National Guard Soldiers and Airmen to serve the people of New York as members of Guard Joint Task Forces. New York Guard members are part of the National Guard team trained to rescue people from destroyed buildings and decontaminate them, assist the National Guard in search and rescue when called upon, and even help National Guard units train to deploy at home or abroad.