DES MOINES — Responding to a request from the state of Florida, the Iowa Army National Guard Monday deployed 19 soldiers, two CH-47F Chinook helicopters and two LUH-72 Lakota helicopters in order to support response operations for Hurricane Irma.
The Iowa Guard team is composed of the following elements:
- Company A, 1st Battalion, 376th Aviation Security and Support (Waterloo)
- Company B, 2-211th General Support Aviation Battalion (Davenport)
- Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 67th Troop Command (Iowa City)
- Company C, 2-147th Aviation (Boone)
- Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division (Boone)
- Company D, 2-211th General Aviation Support Battalion (Davenport)
These aircraft and crew members will be used to move supplies, equipment and people, support search and rescue operations and provide situational awareness to response planning and operations, according to a statement by the Iowa Army National Guard.
The two Chinook helicopters and one Lakota will be sourced from the Davenport Army Aviation Support Facility (AASF). A second Lakota will be sourced from the Waterloo AASF.
The Iowa response was made in cooperation with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management to the Texas request for support.
The legal basis for support is provided under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), an agreement between all 50 states, two territories and Washington, D.C., to assist one another in times of crisis. EMAC is a national mutual aid and partnership agreement that allows state-to-state assistance during governor-declared or federally declared emergencies.
Once conditions for providing assistance to a requesting state are set, the terms constitute a legally binding contractual agreement making affected states responsible for reimbursement.
