CLAY NATIONAL GUARD CENTER, Marietta, Ga., Jan. 9, 2011 – In anticipation of an impending winter storm, Guardsmen across Georgia today are preparing equipment and issuing plans to support communities if the Governor orders their mobilization.

“Soldiers and Airmen of the Georgia National Guard stand ready to do our part to help local communities recover, if we are needed,” said Maj. Gen. William Nesbitt, Georgia’s Adjutant General.

Guardsmen already conducting their monthly drills today prepared humvees, loaded equipment, prepositioned supplies, and updated plans to mobilize, should the Governor call upon them. The Georgia Guard’s Joint Forces Headquarters also brought its Joint Operations Center staffing up to operating capacity Sunday in order to monitor the storm and manage any potential response by the National Guard.

One of several units preparing their equipment was Marietta’s 124^th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, which had been out the previous two days conducting land navigation training at Ft. Gillem. They returned this Sunday and immediately began preparing their tents and other equipment to go right back out, if necessary.

“It’s our mission to go forward with units when they mobilize, whether in war or in peace,” said the unit’s top enlisted Soldier, 1st Sgt. John Kinnaman of LaGrange. “The quick transition from training to real world mission is something we prepare for every month.”

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Contact:

Lt. Col. (Ret.) Ken Baldowski

Media Relations Officer

Georgia Department of Defense

(678) 569-6060

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