Heads Up January 2006

JANUARY 2006 ~ PUBLISHED BY GSDF PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE ~

GSDF troops trained on Georgia Guard’s mobile communications system 2005, local alerted the residences of

By Garry Moon,authorities HQ PAO Forsyth, Georgia of an Anthrax Bio-terror attack, of In December Georgia unknown origin.

Immediately, panic erupted. Citizens Stateunaware Defense Force were of what to do and/or where to go…” soldiers were trained on

This be the headline on any given day, but, due usingcould an advanced mobile planning of state and local authorities, totactical the careful communications Monroe County system is one step closer to having a well called “IC4U”.plan Thefor dealing with such disasters. thought-out system is designed to

Aallow Mock was set up on April 2 under the firstExercise responders, incident commanders, guidance of state and local government agencies, in and local, state & federal conjunction with the 5BDE of the Georgia State disaster managers talk to Defense Force, the Monroe County Sheriff’s H and each other ease many otherwith volunteers, as well as the media and role during a crisis situation. players.

IC4U allows police,

The four-hour exercise firefighters, EMTs, and consisted of “victims” reporting toother a medical facility responders to and being diagnosed for treatment orcommunicate further evaluation. directly in real-time, even if they

The IC4U mobile commo system,

shown here at GSDF HQ, Monroe Sheriff’s Deputy Jarred Duncan said,can “Itbeis are usingCo. different radio set up and ready to go in as little outstanding groups and agencies worked frequencies. that all the as 15 minutes. well together. We don’t see that very much. BioThe IC4U can alsolife patch telephone calls, letting Terrorism is real andinsmall towns need to prepare.”

someone on a cell phone speak directly to another person GSDF’s Statea handheld Command Sergeant MajorcanBardoul also who is using radio.

The system even praised the exercise, saying the drilluplink “helps learn provide video feeds, and has a satellite so us thattovideo audio transmissions can be accessed via the Web, inand a controlled environment.” allowing government crisis managers to get a firsthand The coordinator of theonexercise, Mrs. Janet how Freeman, account of the situation the ground, no matter far Monroe Co. EMA Director, located. commented on the away the incident is geographically

professionalism and military decorum displayed by the IC4U works in part by converting analog signals to digital GSDF troopers. She referred to the GSDF as their Internet Protocol. It was put into practical use for the first “partners community service”, praising it as an time duringinHurricane Rita, when personnel from Georgia’s organization that will always be there to help the 283rd Combat Communications Squadron were dispatched citizens Georgia. to Texasofalong with the state’s two IC4U units, helping Texas guardsmen communicate after Rita made landfall.

The 5BDE, known as “The Ravens”, is under the The Georgia Guard currently has limited manpower to command COL so Dick operate theofIC4U, it isLockert. counting on the GSDF to help man the system during state emergencies.

WWW.GASDF.COM

GSDF Defense in State Force counter“adopts” and trains a Wednesday’s Child

By Garry Moon, HDQ PAO

From reports by Dave Adams, OIC, IET

“Wednesday’s Child” is a partnership of the Freddie Mac Foundation, WAGA Fox 5 Atlanta and the Georgia Department of Human Resources, Office of Adoptions, formed to help find families for children in foster care with special needs who are available for adoption. Recently GSDF had the honor of hosting a Wednesday’s Child, a 14year-old boy named Austin, at IET, where he took part in a day of GSDF entry training. Young Austin took part in classes on military rank and uniforms, and practiced drill & ceremony with the rest of the GSDF training class.

According to the Officer in Charge, 1LT Dave Adams, the experience reinforced Austin’s existing interest in pursuing a military career when he gets older. “He is a very likeable young man and came "out of his shell" in a short time,” said Adams. “Several of our trainees took him under their wing, also, and I thanked the class for their positive involvement with him.” At the end of the training day, Lt. Adams presented Austin with a plaque designating him as an honorary Private First Class in the GSDF, along with a red beret and PFC rank insignia. “He almost fell over when I gave him that!” exclaimed Adams.

Lt. Adams and 14 year-old Austin with the plaque making him an honorary PFC in the State Defense Force. “I think he knows now that the education he has, the better he will be equipped when the time comes for him to go into active duty,” said Adams.

For more information on the Wednesday’s Child program, please http://www.wednesdayschildga.org visit:

BACK PAGE: the GSDC just before WWII; the 48th BCT’s good works are ‘In Focus’

In Focus In Focus this month: Georgia’s 48th BCT From media and Ga. ANG PAO reports

The Georgia 48th Brigade Combat Team has been getting a lot of well-deserved attention for its efforts to assist “Baby Noor”, a three-month old girl from Baghdad with spina bifida that the 48th helped arrange transport and medical attention for in Atlanta. They also recently helped out Ibtisam Kasser, an ailing 17 year-old Iraqi girl, arranging for her to be evacuated from a remote rural area to the Camp Adder base hospital for treatment of pulmonary hypertension. But the 48th BCT does countless other smaller things to aid Iraqi civilians in rebuilding their country.

One such act of kindness took place last month, when the 48th Brigade’s 648th Engineer Battalion built and Colonel Leon handmade Curry, a retiredschool family physician a prior schools U.S. delivered desks istoalsothree Army and Air National Guard Flight Surgeon and former commander around An Nasiriyah.

Children had been sitting to or of the 165th GAANG TAC Hospital. COL Curry is the Chief of three to a desk at the overcrowded schools, but now Professional Services for the AMD. each young student can have a desk of their own.

LTC Enrique Fernandez is an actively practicing medical physician specializing in neurology with extensive civil defense and incident

According to a report by Staff Sgt. Britt Smith, “The command experience. delivery of the desks turned a Chief social occasion Colonel Sarah Henderson, a retired RN, into is AMD’s of Nursing with many of over the30local leaders dropping Services and has yearstribal of Nursing practice in a varietyby of to patient the care settings. greet soldiers as they unloaded the much needed CPT Matthew Hamby, activelyhouses.” practicing chiropractor physician is desks to the ruralanschool a recent addition to the AMD and runs a thriving practice in Rincon,

Ga. good to help the children, it does us good, we “It’s Senior Master Sergeant to Jerry prior are truly blessed beClark, able toservice help combat them”medic saidinLt. Vietnam is our First Sergeant of the detachment.

Senior MSGT Clark Col. Scott Carter, of Warner Robins, Ga. wears the prestigious Combat Medic’s Badge for valor in combat.

TSGT William C. Lanier (Billy) is a prior service soldier with the 75th Rangers, who has earned the prestigious Ranger tab, Airborne jump wings, Basic Trauma Life Support and the Expert Infantryman’s Badge. As the S-3 NCOIC he brings a wealth of experience and expertise as training NCO.

State Defense Corps in 1941: 5,000 “patriotic” volunteers In early 1940, Georgia Governor E. D. Rivers requested the American Legion to organize a state military force to be known as the Georgia State Defense Corps – a direct progenitor of the modern-day Georgia State Defense Force – to augment homeland security, since it was becoming clear that America would probably be drawn into the war raging in Europe at that time.

Recently MAJ William McShane with HQ Support Command legislators came across a 1941 report from Maj. Gen. John F. Williams, Chief of the National Guard Bureau, that he submitted to the Secretary of War, Henry L. Stimson. The report described activities of the state guard units around the country for that year.

The report shows that the Georgia State Defense Corps had 5,242 troops out of an authorized strength of 6,004, and was armed with 4,750 Enfield .30 caliber rifles (1917 vintage) provided by the War Department. According to Maj. Gen. Williams’ report, in 1941 the GSDC provided “Assistance to police by guarding and patrolling water works and fair grounds in four Georgia towns…Twenty-six units acted as auxiliary police at Selective Service registration booths”.

The General praised all the state guard units in his report to the Secretary of War; his words still echo true today: “State Guards are officered and manned in most part by men already qualified by military training and experience, serving on a purely voluntary basis.

The patriotic motives prompting these men to devote their time and efforts towards the defense of their state and country are highly commendable.”

SSG Alice T. Thomas is a Nurse Specialist that works in several venues including Surgical Nurse, Emergency Room Nurse and holds certification in Advanced Cardiac Life Support, CPR Instructor Cert and currents serves on the Cardiac, Stroke and Trauma Teams within her facility.

Iraqi children at the Nor Al Ukem School in the An Nasiriyah area celebrate the delivery of desks made for them by engineers of Georgia’s 48th Brigade Combat Team on Dec. 28th. “This is simple stuff we take for granted everyday, but here in Iraq these school supplies really make a big difference,” said Spc. Rodney Council of Columbus, Ga. Photo: Britt Smith, 48th BCT PAO

The World War II-era version of the Georgia State Defense Force. The unit was initially known as the Georgia State Defense Corps when it was formed in 1940, and included a Boat Unit that performed shore patrol, and an Air Unit that patrolled the skies.

Background information from Rich Elwell, GSDF Historian

We welcome your comments! Please send letters, story ideas, etc to the Editor: garry.moon@travelinc.com