Michigan troops deployed to Louisiana, Mississippi

Published 9:11 am Friday, September 2, 2005

By Staff
LANSING - Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm Thursday announced that additional National Guard troops from Michigan are being deployed to assist in relief efforts underway in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
The deployment of 275 soldiers announced Sept. 1 includes:
Headquarters, 210th MP Battalion (Taylor) (61 soldiers) and the 46th MP Company (Kingsford/Menominee) (182 soldiers) will deploy in support of the civil authorities of the State of Louisiana. MP units will report to England Air Force Base, Alexandria, La., where they will receive further instructions and be briefed on their mission.
The 1434th Quartermaster Water Purification Detachment (22 soldiers) will deploy to Mississippi to save human life, alleviate immediate human suffering and/or lessen major property damage or destruction.
The 1434th will report to Camp Shelby, Miss., where they will receive further instructions and be briefed on their mission. A 10-soldier maintenance contact team consisting of wheeled vehicle mechanics and generator repairers will augment the 1434th for maintenance support.
The units will report today to the Michigan Army National Guard armory in Taylor for inprocessing and will depart for Mississippi and Louisiana on Sunday.
Today's announcement follows an earlier commitment to deploy 182 military police (MPs) from Owosso, Pontiac and Taylor to Camp Shelby for law enforcement or security mission.
Two C-130 transport planes from Selfridge Air National Guard Base left Wednesday with 15 pilots and crew members to assist with an air evacuation mission to transport patients from a veterans medical facility to hospitals in Jackson, Miss.
Michigan National Guard deployments, under the direction of Adjutant Gen. Tom Cutler, are being made under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), a national mutual aid and partnership agreement that allows state-to-state assistance during governor or federally declared state of emergencies.
EMAC provides a responsive and straightforward system for the National Guard in unaffected states to send personnel and equipment to help disaster relief efforts in affected states. When resources are overwhelmed, National Guard units nationwide can fill the shortfalls.
In addition to ordering deployment of Michigan National Guard troops, Granholm has declared an energy emergency in Michigan to lift regulations and restrictions to ease the distribution and availability of gasoline to areas where it is needed.
Michigan (through the emergency management division of the State Police) is in constant contact with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and will offer whatever assistance requested at a moment's notice.
Efforts are underway to identify private and public resources that can be offered to the relief effort.
Granholm encouraged Michigan citizens to donate money to relief efforts, which represent the most direct and useful way to aid victims.
For additional information on disaster relief agencies accepting contributions, please visit www.michigan.gov.