When the Storms Come

Military Culture Thrived During Hurricane Helene

Exhausted soldiers in Asheville, NC after Hurrican Helene (Commons)

Hey all,

I wanted to chime in again about military culture in the face of adversity. Many of you know that Hurricane Helene came through and hit Augusta, Georgia, hard. Georgia Power says this storm is orders of magnitude worse than the famous “2014 Ice Storm.” 99% of the county I am in was without power early on Friday morning. Let me tell you some of the good (and some of the bad) about being in the military when the storm comes.

I live in a neighborhood full of military folks. There is also only one road in and out of the neighborhood (yes, this is *not* good).  Before the wind stopped blowing, dozens of my neighbors, with their trucks and chainsaws, cut us out of our entrapment. For comparison, several days after the storm, there were still neighborhoods that the county or city had not cut access into, and people were screaming about being trapped on social media but not doing anything to help themselves. Neighborhoods with large military populations? The roads were clear. Once our roads were clear, we helped other members of our units get clear because we helped each other.

Why do I bring this up? When you are in the military, even when you are not activated for an emergency like Katrina or Afghanistan Evacuation…you help. Our unit communicates via Slack, and the first few hours, messages were flying for accountability…“Is everyone ok?” “Does anyone need anything?” “This gas station is open.” “This store has generators!” “The lines for food at this grocery store are concise.” None of us had very much those first 24-48 hours, but we helped with what we could. I got a generator the day the storm hit; it was a 4-hour round trip to Athens and back to set it up. The day after the storm, I set up a little FOB (Forward Operating Base) in our neighborhood. Anyone who needs to charge their devices and get ice for their cooler or store medications could do so at FOB Waterloo. I even offered hot showers until the hot water ran out.

Within the first 24 hours after the storm, we determined that our everyday mission would not happen until at least Wednesday the following week. Everyone was still in recovery mode. We arranged for working parties to cut trees in yards and stack them on the curb, cut trees of houses, and put up tarps. We delivered food to those staying in the local area. We delivered gasoline to Airmen who were about to evacuate.

Speaking of evacuations…when the magnitude of the storm became apparent, the garrison issued a voluntary evacuation order. The essence of this order was “Take your family, go find somewhere with water/power/internet, and stay there until we call you home. Use your travel card.” The military would pay for your hotel and a daily allowance for you and your dependents.

Flood damage in Augusta, Georgia (Personal Photo)

To maintain our mission, we had flown teams elsewhere to continue prosecuting our targets as part of our COOP (Continuity of Operations Plan). The mission at the home station was to reconstitute our force. Ensure our own readiness. We have restarted work now, sort of. Everyone knows we have insurance adjusters, tree-clearing people, roofers, and more. On those days, no one is expected to dip into their leave/paid time off balance to take care of that stuff. We hope to be at home and reachable via phone if we need you. We ensure that our members can take care of their individual immediate needs.

This is also how we reacted when COVID-19 first hit. We sorted the unit into three groups: the gold team, the black team, and the immune-compromised team. The gold and black teams took turns week on and week off. The third team stayed home and played an enabling role because they or someone in their household was immune-compromised, and we did not want to risk them getting sick. Helping each other with food, lawn care, childcare, and finding necessities was common.

Now, here goes some of the bad… Post-storm “Are you alive, do you need anything” accountability messages? We had to conduct those nose counts via text every day. It became repetitive and dumb. Especially when our cellular service went down 48 hours after the storm and did not come back up for days, members and their leaders were driving 60+ minutes to go to someone’s house to ensure they were still alive, even though we’d heard from them post-storm, just because they missed a daily accountability check. Like everyone else, their cellular service was out.

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Each branch treated its members slightly differently. The Air Force treated Voluntary Evac seriously, helped get members and their families out, and paid some expenses. I know that the local Marine Corps detachment is having trouble convincing their higher headquarters that the USMC should pay for room and board for members who left the ACTUAL FREAKING DISASTER AREA that was in the greater Augusta area following the storm. The Army kept a lot of young soldiers in the barracks. In Augusta, Georgia, the same barracks were without power, water, or internet for days in 80+ degree weather. No, Thank You.

I do not have much experience with natural disasters in the civilian workforce, as I joined the military shortly after college. However, when I talk to my parents, they are blown away by how well we can care for our people. We fall short sometimes, and each branch treats its members slightly differently in situations like this. The Army and the Marine Corps are more reluctant to evacuate, maybe because they also live in the field for weeks sometimes. Speaking broadly, the US Military does care a lot. We have a bond and a brotherhood & sisterhood like nothing my parents have ever experienced outside of a church small group. I see it time and time again. I have been on both the giving help and the getting help side of this equation. Most mid-level and senior leaders would drop everything and help if asked. This bond and this level of caring for the individual is something I will miss when I retire. When the storm comes, there is not anywhere I would rather be than in the Uniform of the United States.

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