New York Guard Sentinel Fall 2020

New York Guard Sentinel
Lake Ontario Flooding 2020
In response to flooding along the Lake Ontario Shore line vicinity, 43 services members from the various components
of New York Military Force are on State Active Duty as part of Joint Task Force Ontario (JTF Ontario).
Service members from the Army National Guard, New York Naval Militia and New York Guard, State Defense
Force are deployed to the Lake Ontario region area within Joint Area of Operations (JOA)4 and JOA5. JTF Ontario
has been activated while New York State Military Forces currently has 3200 service members deployed
throughout the State supporting the New York National Guard and NY State multi-agency response to COVID-
19. (Photos by Division of Military and Naval Affairs Captain Mark Getman, New York Guard)
Photos and Story by Captain Mark Getman
New York Activated For Lake Ontario Flooding 2020
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- With water levels in Lake Ontario four feet higher than average, the New York National
Guard put 46 personnel on state active duty to help control flooding. This is in addition to 3,600 personnel on
duty as part of New York’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The New York Army National Guard Soldiers,
along with a few members of the New York Guard and New York Naval Militia—both state only forces—installed
several 250-foot lengths of water barriers and emplaced 9,324 sandbags to protect the Monroe
County Sheriff boat launch since missions began on April 27.
Joint Task Force Ontario, based out of the Thompson Road Armory in Syracuse, is working with local agencies
identified on missions identified by the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency
Services. “It feels good to be on my first state active duty mission, where I am helping out,” said Pfc. Ameer
Jumadeen, a member of the 1156th Engineer Company and a Queens, New York, resident. “This is why I enlisted.”
This is the fourth year that the New York National Guard has been tasked to control flooding on Lake
Ontario. In 2019, a total of 627 New York Military Forces members took part in flood control missions from
May to September. At one point, 400 personnel were on duty.
Heavy rains throughout the Great Lakes region, combined with flooding rivers in Ontario and Quebec, resulted
in higher than normal water levels in Lake Ontario, according to the International Joint Commission.
The commission regulates water levels in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River.
20 Fall 2020