With Hurricane Ian anticipated to hit Florida tomorrow, the Nationwide Guard troops within the state stand able to be referred to as into service, the Pentagon press secretary stated throughout a day briefing.
Air Drive Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder stated the Florida Nationwide Guard has greater than 3,200 troops referred to as on to state energetic obligation and a further 1,800 are standing by to be referred to as upon, if wanted.
“Florida has pre-positioned Guard troopers, airmen and gear at bases and armories across the state in preparation for deploying them to areas impacted by the storm,” Ryder stated. “These Guardsmen will present route-clearing [and] search and rescue groups to assist flood management and safety.”
Ryder additionally stated aviation belongings, akin to helicopters, are on standby if wanted, and that neighboring states are ready to make 2,000 of their very own Guard troops accessible.
The division has additionally recognized Maxwell Air Drive Base, Alabama, in addition to Moody Air Drive Base, Warner-Robins Air Drive Base and Marine Corps Logistics Base–Albany — all in Georgia — as each incident assist bases and federal staging areas, Ryder stated. In these roles, they are going to present logistics assist to catastrophe areas, if wanted.
The headquarters for each U.S. Particular Operations Command and U.S. Central Command are positioned in Tampa, Florida, close to the place Hurricane Ian is anticipated to make landfall, however Ryder stated that is unlikely to impact operations for both command.
“Hurricanes hitting the state of Florida will not be new,” Ryder stated. “There are very complete contingency plans which are put collectively to deal with these kinds of eventualities to make sure that there’s 24/7 connectivity and command and management functionality. The underside line is neither of these instructions will miss a beat no matter whether or not the storm hits within the Tampa space or not.”
No Proof of Russian Nuclear Development
Final week, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s feedback concerning the lengths to which Russia would go to realize its targets led some to consider he had threatened using tactical nuclear weapons. However, as of but, the Protection Division hasn’t seen any change in Russia’s nuclear posture, Ryder stated.
“We clearly take these threats significantly, however, at this stage, we have not seen something that might trigger us to regulate our personal nuclear posture at the moment,” Ryder stated. “And as we have stated beforehand, our focus continues to stay on supporting Ukraine of their struggle and dealing carefully with our allies and companions by way of Russian pressure posture.”
Within the Donbass area of Ukraine, Ryder stated, the Russians are making solely small beneficial properties of their effort to take territory there — “a whole lot of meters” in some circumstances, whereas the Ukrainians have been largely efficient in defending their territory.
“[It’s] nothing that I might contemplate vital,” he stated. “The Ukrainians have, thus far, performed a very good job of holding the road there and repulsing these offensive operations.”
In each northern and southern Ukraine, the final stated, the Russians are totally on the protection.
“The Ukrainians proceed to make deliberate motion ahead,” he stated.
