Flood Fight 2009 - 148th Fighter Wing Personnel Deploy to Red River Valley

  • Published
  • By Capt. Audra Flanagan
  • 148FW PA
DULUTH, Minn. --  Five 148th Fighter Wing personnel are currently on their way to the Red River Valley where they will set up a Joint Communications Platform (JCP) in support of Flood Fight 2009. The JCP is one of two mobile communications platforms in Minnesota. It provides satellite uplink and downlink, telephone, radio, data, and wireless capabilities to provide command and control functions in anticipation of power outages due to flooding.

The Minnesota National Guard is working with the local authorities to assist in flood fighting along the Red River Valley.

More than 300 Minnesota Army National Guard Soldiers from the Moorhead-based 2nd Combined Arms Battalion, 136th Infantry have been already been activated to support flood fighting activities in the Red River Valley.

The Minnesota National Guard, under the direction of the Governor, will provide assistance to civil authorities to support their flood fighting efforts. If significant flooding occurs, the Minnesota National Guard will back up the civil agencies as they require and are ready to stand-up additional military forces if necessary.