New York Guard Sentinel Fall 2020

New York Guard Sentinel
Answering the Call
SPC Christopher Yadanza (L) is fitted for PPE by a New York
State Environmental Conservation employee. National Guard
photo by Senior Airman Sean Madden.
A sense of urgency governed everything they did as they
stood up the testing sites, Yadanza recalled. Work started at
5:45 a.m. and they would work well into the evening trying to
test as many people as possible.
“We knew that while you can succeed fast, you can also fail
fast and it was important that we were not afraid to try new
things. It was also just as important to recognize when a process
was not working,” Yadanza said.
Another New York Guard volunteer mobilized for state active
duty was 2 nd Lt. Zachary Perkins. Perkins worked in the joint
task force operations section. The joint task force, responsible
for the initial response in New Rochelle, comprised a joint
force of nearly 500 Army and Air National Guard, New York
Guard and Naval Militia service members. The headquarters
footprint is built around the New York Army National
Guard’s 53 rd Troop Command Headquarters. Their 24-hour-aday,
seven-days-a-week operation ranged from food distribution missions in Westchester County, support
missions for Glen Island and Anthony Wayne Testing Sites and the SUNY Orange antibody testing site, 24-
hour access control assignments for key county facilities, and daily bulk mask and hand sanitizer distribution
missions to community and municipal sites across New York.
SGT Patrick Cafone (left) walks a New York Army National Guard soldier
through the certification process for forklift operations. (Note:
Photo taken prior to mask policies.)
New York Guard members Sergeant Michael Bilski ( left) and Sergeant
Stephanie Castillo, check the temperatures of New York Army
National Guard Soldiers assigned to the 133rd Composite Supply
Company at the New York National Guard Shop B Maintenance Facility
on Staten Island, N.Y. on May 18, 2020.Photo by New York
Guard Specialist Lars Pihlava
29 Fall 2020