I’m working the COVID-19 situation (remotely of course) at the National Guard Bureau, assisting federal officials at the state level with mobilized Guardsmen and federal use of Guard-supported facilities.
COL (Ret) Joseph A. ‘Joe’ Wannemacher
Distance Class of 2006
John Harris, DDE ’06
MG John Harris, Ohio Adjutant General, is working the COVID-19 crisis directly in support of Governor Mike DeWine of Ohio. He not only has Soldiers/Airmen employed, he is working closely with the Ohio Emergency Management Agency (EMA) to coordinate and synchronize the Ohio National Guard response with the Governor, his staff, and the Incident Commander. The Governor issued a proclamation March 18th authorizing the activation of about 400 Ohio National Guard personnel to support a humanitarian mission in response to the COVID-19 pandemic facing the state, but that number quickly grew. The 37th IBCT was organized as Joint Task Force 37 (JTF-37) to manage all National Guard missions activated by the Governor’s proclamation and Operation Steady Resolve began. Activated members of the Ohio National Guard and Ohio Military Reserve (OHMR) fall under the JTF-37 command structure and are supporting food banks, prison support, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Collection, and Medical Surge Capacity. Their initial mission was to assist 12 food banks across Ohio with packaging, transporting, and distributing food and other essential items to all 88 counties in support of the state’s most vulnerable populations. As of April 27th, there are 14 food banks and they have distributed over 10,000,000 pounds of food across Ohio. The many other medical, logistical, humanitarian, transportation, and other missions across the State continue to make the Ohio National Guard’s support even more critical. The Ohio National Guard is supporting the citizens of Ohio during this COVID-19 crisis in coordination with Ohio Emergency Management Agency, Ohio Department of Health, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction and Federal Bureau of Prisons, and many other agencies.
MG John C. Harris, Jr.
Distance Class of 2006
Adjutant General, Ohio
MG Ray Shields is the Adjutant General of New York, a state affected by the COVID-19 crisis like no other in terms of scale. The support of the New York National Guard has been critical to the citizens of New York and critical to the coordination and reach of the New York Governor’s Coronavirus Task Force.
MG Raymond F. ‘Ray’ Shields, Jr.
Distance Class of 2006
Adjutant General of New York
BG Michel Natali is the Dual Status Commander for the New York State response to the deadly COVID-19 crisis. This status provides him simultaneous Command and Control (C2) authority for T10 active duty and the T32 (National Guard) forces to ensure unified effort. Designated by the Secretary of Defense, this critical status is used for domestic emergencies, allowing states to request relief capabilities from the military that are outside of those of their own National Guard. With the extreme COVID-19 situation in New York and surrounding regions, relief efforts of both state and federal military organizations have been extensive and will remain so for the indefinite future. BG Natali’s efforts are coordinated with the multiple task forces supporting the New York Governor’s Coronavirus Task Force, the Adjutant General of New York (MG Ray Shields, DDE ’06), and hundreds of other emergency, health and human services, medical, logistics, supply, and community organizations fighting COVID-19 and its effects and impacts on millions of New York citizens.
BG Michel A. Natali
Distance Class of 2014
Assistant Adjutant General – Army
New York National Guard
My current role is Director, Joint Staff for the Iowa National Guard, and the Joint Staff is the Adjutant General’s lead for the COVID-19 response in the state of Iowa. I currently have about 500 Soldiers and Airmen on duty planning for and responding to requests from our state partners and the Governor. I am a traditional Guardsman and my civilian job is a senior leader for Progressive Insurance.
COL Ralph R. Robovsky
Resident Class of 2015
Director, Joint Staff, Iowa National Guard
During the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic, I have been supporting the Adjutant General of New York by managing and directing the Joint Staff of the New York National Guard. Our mission is clear: to conduct civil support operations as directed by the Governor of New York to save lives, protect property, and mitigate human suffering. We have mobilized and deployed over 3,600 servicemembers to conduct a variety of missions to help New Yorkers during these troubling times. Missions include support to hospitals, decedent recovery and transportation, warehousing and distribution of essential supplies, COVID-19 testing, test kit packaging, call center support, food packaging and distribution, cleaning and access control of essential facilities.
BG John C. Andonie
Distance Class of 2013
Director, Joint Staff, New York National Guard
