HomeNewsArticle Display

Guard Begins Quick Reaction Force Mission in Valley City

By Sgt. Jesica Geffre, NDNG Public Affairs / Published April 14, 2011

PRINT | E-MAIL
VALLEY CITY, N.D. -- Within one day of setting up flood duty operations, North Dakota National Guard's Task Force-West was called to respond with their Quick Reaction Force (QRF) to reinforce a small dam that had a weak spot in the levee system out along the Sheyenne River, and pack sandbags around a second levee that was leaking.

Master Sgt. Scott Brewer, 231st Base Support Battalion, is in charge of the day shift for the QRF and said the group had unloaded about 850 sandbags after two Guardsmen on patrol had called in the damaged levee.

Brewer said sandbags and vehicles are on standby at two different locations to react swiftly to basic emergencies in the area and the crew is on call 24 hours a day.

Brewer participated in the 2009 flood fight and said that the experience helped him with being prepared for this year's flood. "It helps when you have an idea of what to expect," Brewer said. A crew of about 14 Soldiers is on call at the Valley City Armory for quick reaction situations in and around the city.

1st Sgt. Kenneth Schuldheisz, 231st Base Support Battalion, is the non-commissioned officer in charge of operations for Joint Task Force West.
Schuldheisz said the set up began Monday to process Soldiers for State Active Duty. "The Soldiers also received a briefing from the Corps of Engineers to make sure the patrols were familiar with the terminology and could communicate what they saw," Schuldheisz said.

"A lot of people were on flood duty here before so they are familiar with the town and operating procedures, as well as working with the Corps of Engineers."

The patrols will be monitoring all the levees in the area as well as pumps along the levee system and will call up any deficiencies they find.
Schuldheisz says there are approximately 97 Soldiers participating in the flood flight in this area, and many of them volunteered for the detail.

"The community has been great, we always get a good reaction to the Guard and they are always very supportive," Schuldheisz said.

USAF Comments Policy
If you wish to comment, use the text box below. AF reserves the right to modify this policy at any time.

This is a moderated forum. That means all comments will be reviewed before posting. In addition, we expect that participants will treat each other, as well as our agency and our employees, with respect. We will not post comments that contain abusive or vulgar language, spam, hate speech, personal attacks, violate EEO policy, are offensive to other or similar content. We will not post comments that are spam, are clearly "off topic", promote services or products, infringe copyright protected material, or contain any links that don't contribute to the discussion. Comments that make unsupported accusations will also not be posted. The AF and the AF alone will make a determination as to which comments will be posted. Any references to commercial entities, products, services, or other non-governmental organizations or individuals that remain on the site are provided solely for the information of individuals using this page. These references are not intended to reflect the opinion of the AF, DoD, the United States, or its officers or employees concerning the significance, priority, or importance to be given the referenced entity, product, service, or organization. Such references are not an official or personal endorsement of any product, person, or service, and may not be quoted or reproduced for the purpose of stating or implying AF endorsement or approval of any product, person, or service.

Any comments that report criminal activity including: suicidal behaviour or sexual assault will be reported to appropriate authorities including OSI. This forum is not:

  • This forum is not to be used to report criminal activity. If you have information for law enforcement, please contact OSI or your local police agency.
  • Do not submit unsolicited proposals, or other business ideas or inquiries to this forum. This site is not to be used for contracting or commercial business.
  • This forum may not be used for the submission of any claim, demand, informal or formal complaint, or any other form of legal and/or administrative notice or process, or for the exhaustion of any legal and/or administrative remedy.

AF does not guarantee or warrant that any information posted by individuals on this forum is correct, and disclaims any liability for any loss or damage resulting from reliance on any such information. AF may not be able to verify, does not warrant or guarantee, and assumes no liability for anything posted on this website by any other person. AF does not endorse, support or otherwise promote any private or commercial entity or the information, products or services contained on those websites that may be reached through links on our website.

Members of the media are asked to send questions to the public affairs through their normal channels and to refrain from submitting questions here as comments. Reporter questions will not be posted. We recognize that the Web is a 24/7 medium, and your comments are welcome at any time. However, given the need to manage federal resources, moderating and posting of comments will occur during regular business hours Monday through Friday. Comments submitted after hours or on weekends will be read and posted as early as possible; in most cases, this means the next business day.

For the benefit of robust discussion, we ask that comments remain "on-topic." This means that comments will be posted only as it relates to the topic that is being discussed within the blog post. The views expressed on the site by non-federal commentators do not necessarily reflect the official views of the AF or the Federal Government.

To protect your own privacy and the privacy of others, please do not include personally identifiable information, such as name, Social Security number, DoD ID number, OSI Case number, phone numbers or email addresses in the body of your comment. If you do voluntarily include personally identifiable information in your comment, such as your name, that comment may or may not be posted on the page. If your comment is posted, your name will not be redacted or removed. In no circumstances will comments be posted that contain Social Security numbers, DoD ID numbers, OSI case numbers, addresses, email address or phone numbers. The default for the posting of comments is "anonymous", but if you opt not to, any information, including your login name, may be displayed on our site.

Thank you for taking the time to read this comment policy. We encourage your participation in our discussion and look forward to an active exchange of ideas.