First Kansas Afghanistan Severe Weather Guard female receives gift Awareness Week chief warrant offi- that keeps on helps teach pre- giving ..............8 paredness ......15 PlainsPlainscer 5 retires........7 GuardianGuardian Volume 55 No. 2 Serving the Kansas Army and Air National Guard, Kansas Emergency Management, Kansas Homeland Security and Civil Air Patrol March 2012 State, citizens rush to aid of tornado-stricken town By Steve Larson Management dispatched an Incident Man- Public Affairs Office agement Team to Harveyville Tuesday Coming on the heels of an unusually evening to assist local authorities in coor- mild winter, severe storms and tornadoes dinating disaster response activities. The struck Kansas the evening of Tuesday, Feb. agency’s Public Information/Geographic 28, causing one death and injuries and Information vehicle deployed the morning property damage in a number of counties. of Feb. 29 to provide public information Hardest hit was the community of Har- assistance and mapping support for emer- veyville in Wabaunsee County, where resi- gency responders. Other state and local dents had little warning before an EF 2 agencies that responded included the tornado damaged or destroyed approxi- Kansas Department of Transportation, mately 40 percent of the town, injuring 12 Kansas Highway Patrol, Kansas Task people, one fatally. Force 2 - Northeast Region Search and The storm system ultimately caused Rescue Task Force, Kansas Department of varying degrees of damage in the eastern Health and Environment, Wamego Fire half of the state, prompting Gov. Sam Department, American Red Cross, and the Brownback to declare a State of Disaster Salvation Army, along with law enforce- Emergency for 19 counties, including But- ment, fire departments and emergency re- ler, Chautauqua, Coffey, Cowley, Crawford, sponders from several other counties. Douglas, Franklin, Harper, Kingman, La- And then came the volunteers by the bette, Leavenworth, Marion, Montgomery, hundreds. Staged in Eskridge and shuttled McPherson, Reno, Republic, Sumner, to Harveyville, they were deployed Wabaunsee and Wilson Counties. throughout the town like an army to help “Our thoughts and prayers are with the bring order to the chaos. By Friday, more Kansans impacted by the storms,” said Maj. Gen. (KS) Lee Tafanelli, the adjutant general, talks with cadets from St. John’s than 1,000 people had volunteered their Brownback, “especially those in the Har- Military Academy, Salina, in front of the ruins of the Harveyville Methodist Church. time, energy and expertise to help the citi- veyville area. The state will do what it can The cadets were part of the hundreds of volunteers that converged on the town in the zens of Harveyville. to help these affected communities get back aftermath of an EF2 tornado that destroyed or damaged approximately 40 percent of “The outpouring of assistance we re- on their feet.” the community the evening of Feb. 28. (Photo by Sgt. Jessica Barnett, Public Affairs ceived so far has exceeded our expecta- The Kansas Division of Emergency Office) (Continued on Page 5) Adjutant General conducts “Stars Guardsmen return from a year- and Bars” town hall meetings long deployment to Africa By 2nd Lt. Matt Lucht called the “Stars and Bars” and the “Stars By Sgt. Jessica Barnett the Forbes Field Hanger 662, 190th Air Re- 184th Intelligence Wing Public Affairs and Stripes.” Public Affairs Office fueling Wing, Kansas National Guard, Feb. Few Soldiers and Airmen get the chance These forums allow Soldiers and Air- More than 500 Soldiers of the Kansas 20 and 25, 2012. to have a face to face conversation with men to interact with the adjutant general National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 161st Field The fanfare started with a motorcycle es- the commander of their state’s National in a small setting, asking questions or get- Artillery and 35th Military Police Company cort, provided by the Topeka American Le- Guard. Maj. Gen. (KS) Lee Tafanelli, the ting information from the source. were welcomed home to Kansas from a gion Post 421 riders, from Highway 70 all adjutant general of Kansas, wanted to “This provides me an opportunity in an year-long deployment to the Horn of the way to each location, letting people change this through open forum meetings unfiltered environment to look at a lot of Africa. along the route know that heroes were on the key, critical issues in our organization, The first of three groups of Soldiers from their way back home. to ensure that I have a better understand- the deployment were received during a As each group walked to their formation ing of that view from each group to make homecoming ceremony at Washburn Uni- during their respective redeployment cere- it the best organization that it can be in the versity Lee Arena, Topeka, Kan., Feb. 9, mony, family and friends waved their patri- PAID future,” said Tafanelli. 2012. otic signs high up in the air in hopes that PRSRT STD PRSRT SALEM, OR Tafanelli held forums at The Roost on The two groups of Soldiers that followed their loved one would see it as they cheered U.S. POSTAGE PERMIT NO. 178 PERMIT McConnell Air Force Base, Wichita Kan., met their family, friends and co-workers at (Continued on Page 2) with the 184th Intelligence Wing, Feb. 4, 2012. During one of the sessions, he indi- cated that the Kansas National Guard was made up of 85 percent traditional Guards- men. He stressed the importance and ad- vantages of having so many Soldiers and Airmen with such a diverse set of skills and depth of knowledge in many different professions. Capt. Michael Alldaffer, director of Equal Opportunity and a career traditional Guardsman with the 184th IW, of Wichita, Kan., was happy to hear Tafanelli’s thoughts on how the Guard is made up. “It seemed really important to him to embrace the concept of traditional [guardsmen] and what all we go through to make those commitments, not for just the weekends, but for deployments, as well.” Alldaffer said attending the “Stars and Bars” gave him some good information. 2800 Topeka Blvd. 2800 Topeka “When he is right there, it is unfiltered Retired Master Sgt. Mike Simmons with the Topeka American Legion Post 421 riders OFFICIAL BUSINESS OFFICIAL Adjutant General of Kansas Topeka, Kansas 66611-1287 Topeka, Penalty For Private Use, $300 and you are hearing it straight from [the welcomes home Spc. Ronald George, a human resources specialist with Battery C, 1st DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY THE OF DEPARTMENT NATIONAL GUARD OF KANSAS GUARD OF NATIONAL adjutant general],” said Alldaffer. “He is a Battalion, 161st Field Artillery, as his unit and the 35th Military Police Company relatively new TAG and to get his face head to their homecoming ceremony at Washburn University Lee Arena, Topeka, DEPARTMENT AND AIR OF THE ARMY FORCE DEPARTMENT (Continued on Page 5) Kan., Feb. 9, 2012. (Photo by Sgt. Jessica Barnett, Public Affairs Office) Page 2 Plains Guardian • March 2012 134th Air Control Squadron reflects on South Asia deployment By 2nd Lt. Matt Lucht thing out,” said Mills. 184th Intelligence Wing Public Affairs In addition, the joint environment al- As approximately 80 Airmen from the lowed the Airmen to see how other 184th Intelligence Wing’s 134th Air Con- branches worked. trol Squadron prepared for their deploy- “We participated in simulation exer- ment to Southwest Asia in June 2011, Lt. cises with the Army, Navy, Air Force and Col. Christopher Mills, commander of the Marines,” said Cleveland. 134th ACS, evaluated his team with some The 134th ACS faced a number of chal- small concerns. lenges before and during their deploy- “The tall order was that we had a lot of ment, even from the environment. When new people,” said Mills. “We literally had getting to the duty station, the radar tech people get back from technical school, get found the arid climate was not friendly to checked back into the unit and go with us electronic equipment. on the deployment a week or two later.” “There was a lot of heat and a lot of Now, four months after returning from dust, two things that electronics don’t their five-month deployment, Mills says like,” explained Mills. “So pulling the hat he couldn’t be happier with the results. trick to keep it running wasn’t just luck, it “We had enough people, we deployed, wasn’t just good maintenance, it was we did the mission well and we brought smart and savvy maintenance.” everyone home. There isn’t much else This maintenance wasn’t easy, but it you can ask for as a commander,” said was a job that Senior Master Sgt. David Mills. Perez didn’t shy away from. The deployment tempo was actually a “The radars that we took over, I don’t benefit for training new Airmen. Capt. know how many millions of dollars we Brett Cleveland, chief of training for the spent to get them up in operational condi- squadron said, “Once you get over there, Approximately 80 Airmen with the 184th Intelligence Wings’s 134th Air Control Squadron, tion. When we left, I think that the opera- it is probably the most dynamic scenario commanded by Lt. Col. Christopher Mills, pose in front of a TPS-75 radar in Southwest tional rate was almost 100 percent,” said you could possibly have for training Asia, Nov. 14, 2011. (Photo by Master Sgt. Eric Heiple, 134th Air Control Squadron) Perez. young troops. It is kind of like baptism by fire. They get to include his Airmen in maintenance troubleshooting. Equipment breakdown was something that the 134th was spun up really quickly and we debrief after every mission, “We had some unique opportunities for training out trained for and able to address, but what wasn’t expected or after every session they have on scope, so there is a lot there, something that we are not going to have during an- was the need to troubleshoot unfamiliar equipment.