There are several of us on active duty responding to the COVID-19 situation in Ohio. For example, Soldiers from my brigade and Airmen from the squadron of Col Michael Hrynciw (RES ‘16), an Ohio Air National Guard Officer who is Commander of the 200th Red Horse Squadron, are working together in five Joint Engineering Assessment Teams across the state. These troops are engineers and tradesmen, with a heavy focus on HVAC and electrical construction — all of them bringing tremendous expertise from their civilian professions. We’ve assessed over 40 sites and oversaw the selection of seven alternate care facility locations, with three of them being built and four more in a “warm” status to turn on if there is a spike later in the fall. The opportunity to work with our sister service members, as well as partners from our state departments of transportation, facilities construction commission, and administrative services, is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It has been an amazing experience working at the front end of Ohio’s response. Ohio is under outstanding leadership, and it has been a true privilege to be part of this effort.
COL Andrew B. ‘Andy’ Stone, P.E.
Distance Class of 2018
Commander, 16th Engineer Brigade
Ohio Army National Guard (OHARNG)
