BEATRICE – Keeping cooperation strong between the Nebraska National Guard and a southeast Nebraska community is the goal of a special day later this month.  A Community Partnership Program between the Nebraska Military and the City of Beatrice will be observed with several events, August 29th.


Nebraska Adjutant General, Brigadier General Craig Strong, heads the Air National Guard, Army National Guard and Nebraska Emergency Management Agency. In addition to overseas deployments, Strong says the National Guard is based in communities.  "We're unique in Nebraska because we have not only our National Guard in our military department, we also have our emergency management agency...and obviously, the domestic response requirements of the National Guard and how our emergency management agency interacts with our counties and local governments and the local emergency managers, local fire chiefs and chiefs of police. That's just another piece....not just the National Guard on the military side, but the emergency management side."


The partnership initiative kicked off in recent months, with Wahoo being the first community. Beatrice will be the second, and Grand Island, the third. Taking care of soldiers, their families and employers, Strong says, are key issues for the National Guard.  "Over 80, 85 percent of our force are citizen soldiers. They have a full time career, full time job. The employers are integral to ensuring the readiness of our soldiers and our airmen, allowing them to train, to deploy when needed on behalf of the country or the state. The employer support of the guard and reserve....we will be highlighting some of the initiatives and some of the recognitions that program has, while we are in Beatrice."


A critical domestic role for the National Guard and Air National Guard is response to emergencies at home…..like this year’s devastating tornadoes in the Omaha area…and wildfires in western and southwest Nebraska before that.


"If you reach a point where a National Guard asset is needed, we are there for that opportunity or to take on those challenging areas where it just exceeds the counties capabilities. Examples of that, obviously we have our aerial suppression capabilities with our helicopters. We have Blackhawks, we have Lakota helicopters, we have Chinook helicopters. That's a capability you don't just generally see in the civilian sector. That rotary wing capability is something not just for fire suppression, but for search and rescue as needed and for flooding situations....as well as surveillance and being able to identify hotspots from fires."

Blackhawk and Lakota helicopters, at military base in Lincoln
Blackhawk and Lakota helicopters, at military base in Lincoln  

The military provides information to local entities on available assets during emergencies. Strong says incident command remains local…but the guard can provide various kinds of support.


"The security or support that we can provide is what was called upon in the Omaha and Elkhorn areas after the tornadoes. The debris removal is an asset we can bring to bear, but the counties were able to generally deal with that through the utilities and public works....and were able to clear debris. But, what they were really spread thin on was enough police officers and law enforcement to secure really large neighborhood areas."


On August 29th, the Nebraska Army National Guard and the City of Beatrice will host several events, including a wreath laying ceremony at 8 a.m., at the Veterans Memorial Park. A Veterans Open House will be held at the Veterans Club on Dorsey Street.


A signing ceremony is planned at 3:30 p.m. at the Gage County Museum….and an open house and community discussion at 4:30 p.m. at the Guard and Reserve Training facility in west Beatrice.