INDIANAPOLIS (Press Release) – A team of Indiana National Guard soldiers with the 38th Infantry Division’s aviation brigade will help Florida’s hurricane relief efforts.
Indiana will send more than a dozen soldiers, three flight crews and mechanics, along with two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, to assist military and civilian agencies in logistics and reconnaissance missions.
“This is what Hoosiers do, help our neighbors when called upon, whether it’s here in Indiana or the Sunshine State,” said Lt. Col. Scott Oden, the Indiana National Guard’s director of aviation and safety. “The National Guard’s unique, dual mission to nation and state allows our soldiers and airmen to help out here at home and across the United States.”
The request for forces came through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, which is a foundation for sharing resources between states.
The Indiana National Guard responded to two hurricane relief efforts in 2017 following Harvey in Texas and Irma in Florida, and again in 2018 following Florence in North Carolina.
Indiana National Guard soldiers and airmen have a history of responding to severe weather, most recently in Indiana in February following snow storms that swept across the Hoosier State.
