February 21, 2006

Dear Fellow Nebraskans:

Few people outside of military families can comprehend the sacrifices that our men and women serving in the U.S. Armed Forces make for our state and for our nation.

This war on terrorism has extended across the globe and into places like Afghanistan and Iraq, and its stresses have reached deeply into the Nebraska National Guard. As a veteran myself and a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, I can tell you that the men and women serving our state should make us very proud.

I recently had the pleasure of introducing a new unit of the Nebraska Guard, the 72nd Civil Support Team – Weapons of Mass Destruction. This Lincoln-based unit represents our state’s first line of defense against biological, chemical or nuclear attack, and they add another layer of protection to our natural disaster preparedness efforts.

Members of this new unit, which was certified this month in Washington DC, have volunteered for dangerous but important duties on our behalf. A handful of unit members recently served as part of the National Guard’s response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Under the leadership of Lt. Col. Anita Curington, this new Nebraska unit is considered ready, trained and able to provide rapid analysis of chemical or radiological hazards, as well as being prepared to identify biological agents in the event of a terrorist or domestic attack involving weapons of mass destruction.

They would be among the first units called in to assist our local first responders in the event of an obvious or suspected attack, and I am confident in their ability to help after learning about their 22 weeks of intense and mission-specific training.

The 72nd Civil Support Team is equipped with state-of-the-art military and commercial detection and communications equipment. Members have been trained to enter contaminated “Hot Zones” for reconnaissance, survey, detection and sampling missions.

These skills and assets will be a great help to our State’s first responders. The knowledge that these Nebraska Guard soldiers and airmen have about the emergency management system, their expertise in emergency response operations and their technical skills will offer tremendous aid to local incident commanders during times of need.

Ultimately, this unit will help us continue to keep Nebraska’s citizens safe and continue our state’s traditions of emphasizing preparedness, communication and cooperation in matters of public safety, homeland security and disaster preparedness.

In closing, I’d like to stress how proud I am of the men and women serving in the Nebraska National Guard, whether on the 72nd Civil Support Team or another of Maj. Gen. Roger Lempke’s units.

These brave citizen-soldiers continue to advance our nation’s cause in the war on terror, and they continue to make difficult decisions and sacrifices for the greater good. I am grateful for their service, and I am confident that our state as a whole is safer because of them. For that, we owe them a debt of gratitude.