No Result
View All Result
Reserve & National Guard
SUBSCRIBE FREE
No Result
View All Result
Reserve & National Guard
SUBSCRIBE FREE
Reserve & National Guard

Puerto Rico National Guard faces a perfect storm

Dave Paone
by Dave Paone
July 14, 2020
A Puerto Rico National Guard member takes the temperature of an incoming traveler at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Photo by Staff Sgt. Marimar Rivera.

A Puerto Rico National Guard member takes the temperature of an incoming traveler at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Photo by Staff Sgt. Marimar Rivera.

A deadly pandemic, a Category 5 hurricane and two earthquakes. While this sounds like cataclysms from the Old Testament — it’s not. Puerto Rico has been dealing with a range of natural disasters for the past three years.   

In the center of them all is the Puerto Rico National Guard, stepping up to the challenges each provides.  

“It’s certainly showing that the Puerto Rico National Guard is a flexible and adaptable force,” Maj. Gen. José Reyes, adjutant general, said.  

COVID-19  

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the lives of just about every American. The mantra of elected officials has been, “Flatten the curve,” meaning stop the spread of the virus. PRNG is doing its part to accomplish that by conducting medical evaluations of everyone entering Puerto Rico. 

Earlier this year, PRNG and other federal and state agencies started screening incoming passengers at the international airport in San Juan by installing 11 infrared cameras that measure a person’s body temperature.   

If a passenger has a temperature of 100.3° or over, they are immediately taken to a triage area and tested for COVID-19.   

This is a 24/7 operation with about 260 PRNG members participating — roughly 60 are assigned to each six-hour shift.  

Laiza Rivera, a medical student at Central Caribbean University, took the oath of office to become a 2nd Lt. in the Puerto Rico National Guard on April 2. Here she signs her enlistment contract as Gen. José Reyes looks on. Photo by First Sgt. Luis E. Orengo.

In addition to military personnel, 150 students from Puerto Rico’s four medical schools have volunteered for this mission as well.   

This actually worked as an unintentional recruitment campaign when four of them decided to join the PRNG. One of them is 2nd Lt. Laiza Rivera.    

The 27–year-old says she was going stir-crazy being home all day because of the lockdown so she decided to volunteer at the airport. Rivera, whose major is ophthalmology, was already in the process of joining but inspired the other three student-volunteers to join as well.  

PRNG has similar operations at other ports of entry.  

Annual training  

PRNG’s ability to adapt is illustrated in its revised plan for annual training. Ordinarily, large groups of personnel would attend exercises at the national training center in California, as well as another location in Louisiana. Not this year. In an effort to practice social distancing, those exercises will be modified to be conducted in smaller groups at Camp Santiago in Puerto Rico.  

Additionally, classes that would normally be held in a conference room have switched to video conferencing.  

Hurricane Maria  

In 2017, Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico.   

Under Reyes’ command, the island’s combined military forces provided its residents with just about everything they needed.  

They provided MPs to the local police departments to maintain law and order; engineers cleared hundreds of miles of debris from roadways; and they conducted search and rescue operations in flooded communities and evacuated stranded citizens. The Army aviation unit conducted countless flights to and from the center of the island (its most rural and isolated area) to deliver food, water and emergency supplies.  

Puerto Rico still hasn’t fully recovered from the hurricane and the 56 year-old general predicts that won’t happen for another 10 to 12 years.  

Two earthquakes  

If the hurricane wasn’t bad enough, Puerto Rico was shaken by two major earthquakes in January. There were 10,000 people who either partially or completely lost their homes.   

Reyes, who was born and raised in Puerto Rico, presented a plan to Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced to relocate these refugees. PRNG then established five major camps, each with a capacity of about 1,700. In partnership with FEMA and other agencies, they relocated over 10,000 people in 56 days. 

Hurricane season  

While no one can predict when an earthquake will occur, there is an established hurricane season for the Caribbean and it’s happening now.  

Under Homeland Security Presidential Directives Nos. 8 and 9, states and territories are required to conduct preparatory training in response to the threats that pose the greatest risk to national security, including natural disasters.  

PRNG is on it conducting emergency management exercises for hurricanes, earthquakes, pandemics and even tsunamis with all 78 municipalities on the island. Until last year, exercises were only for Category 5 hurricanes. The new exercises anticipate all these disasters happening concurrently.  

Puerto Rico has had a lot thrown at it over the past three years and, in theory, it all could happen again. PRNG will be ready if it does.  

Additionally, Reyes knows Guard units from other states, as well as additional DOD personnel, has Puerto Rico’s back and will be there to support him.  

Reyes came out of retirement to take on this command and he’s glad he did. 

“It’s a tremendous honor to command the Puerto Rico National Guard, eight-five hundred strong, fully committed men and women with an unbreakable sense of service towards the people of Puerto Rico and our nation,” he said. “I’m very proud of each one of them.” 

 

Read comments
Tags: annual trainingCamp SantiagoCOVID-19FEMAGovernor Wanda Vázquez GarcedHurricane MariaMaj. Gen. José ReyesPuerto RicoPuerto Rico National Guard
Dave Paone

Dave Paone

Dave Paone was born on Long Island and was a photojournalism major at School of Visual Arts in New York City where he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honors. Dave has won several journalism awards for articles, photographs and a headline, including two awards for photos from the Military Reporters & Editors Assoc. in D.C. His autobiography, Mickey Rooney Was Right, was published in 2010 though Author House.

Related Posts

Marine Corps Reserve veteran reflects on ‘fly on the wall’ view of Iraq War

by Kari Williams
9 hours ago
0
Iraq

When talk of the Iraq War began, retired Marine Corps Capt. Matthew Hoh was a junior officer for the Secretary...

Read more

AFRC, Mercy hospitals training agreement benefits multiple parties

by Allison Churchill
2 weeks ago
0
Mercy

An agreement between Air Force Reserve Command and Mercy allows reservists in medical fields to train at the Catholic hospital...

Read more

Ohio Guard quietly removed guardsman guilty of making ghost guns last year

by Military.com
2 weeks ago
0
Ice covers the "Minuteman" statue in front of the Ohio Air National Guard Headquarters building, Dec. 20, 2016. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. Joe Harwood\Released)

The Ohio National Guard says it booted a guardsman who was sentenced for making ghost guns from its ranks months...

Read more

National Guard, reserve veterans among IAVA’s advocacy all-stars

by AmeriForce Staff
3 weeks ago
0
IAVA

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America's (IAVA) All-Star Advocacy Fly-In on Capitol Hill included several reserve component veterans.

Read more

Military services will amend COVID vaccine-refuser records so they aren’t passed over for promotions

by Military.com
3 weeks ago
0
Vaccine

All military services are reworking their policies to adjust separation & promotion records for those who refused the COVID-19 vaccine.

Read more

Space National Guard gets renewed push from lawmakers

by Military.com
4 weeks ago
0
Space National Guard

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are once again backing a bill that would create a Space National Guard.

Read more

Ads

Let's get social

The RNG Drill

News delivered directly to your inbox

Let's connect!

ABOUT US

  • OUR STORY
  • OUR TEAM
  • OUR WRITERS

MAGAZINE

  • GET PRINT
  • GET DIGITAL
  • GET THE NEWSLETTER

GET RESOURCES

  • VETERANS TOOLKIT

ADVERTISE

  • GET OUR MEDIA KIT
  • PUBLISHER’S STATEMENT

SUBMISSIONS

  • PITCH US
  • SUBMIT YOUR STORY

Never miss out on the latest stories.

© 2021 Reserve & National Guard by AmeriForce. Privacy Policy | Terms | Site by Swiss Commerce

Thank you for your interest in The Reserve & National Guard Magazine!

Thank you for your interest in The Reserve & National Guard Magazine!

No Result
View All Result
  • NEWS
  • YOUR CAREER
    • UNIT TRAINING
    • DEPLOYMENT
    • PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
    • RECRUITING & RETENTION
    • ENTREPRENEUR
    • TRANSITION
  • EDUCATION
  • MILITARY LIFE
    • MILITARY SPOUSES
    • MILITARY KIDS
    • PARENTING
  • OFF DUTY
    • ENTERTAINMENT
    • TRAVEL
  • HEALTH
    • FITNESS
    • MEDICINE
    • MENTAL HEALTH
  • SPORTS
  • OPINION
  • HISTORY
  • MONEY
    • PERSONAL FINANCE
    • BENEFITS
  • GET THE MAGAZINE
    • PRINT MAGAZINES
    • DIGITAL MAGAZINES
    • GET THE NEWSLETTER
  • RESOURCES
    • VETERANS TOOLKIT
  • ABOUT US
    • MEET OUR TEAM
    • OUR AUTHORS
    • ADVERTISE WITH US
    • SUBMIT YOUR STORY
    • PITCH US
    • CONTACT

© 2022 Reserve & National Guard by AmeriForce. Site by SCBW

Skip to toolbar
  • About WordPress
    • WordPress.org
    • Documentation
    • Support
    • Feedback
  • AMP
    • View AMP version