La. Guard shares disaster response experience with Republic of Korea delegation

By Staff Sgt. David C. Kirtland, Louisiana National Guard Public Affairs Office

NEW ORLEANS – The Louisiana National Guard hosted a delegation of officers from the Republic of Korea’s (ROK) Army for a visit to Jackson Barracks in New Orleans and other LANG facilities to share its extensive disaster response experience and lessons learned, Nov. 11-17.

“We were honored to support our ally, South Korea, by hosting this delegation at Jackson Barracks,” said Col. Willus Hall, chief of the joint staff for LANG. “The purpose of their visit was to gain knowledge about our planning and execution processes for commodities distribution, so they can strengthen this capability within their force.”

As part of the visit, the delegation toured the LANG Regional Staging Area in Roseland, La. where personnel provided an orientation on full-spectrum commodities distribution, including a demonstration using a precision-scaled sand table. The RSA serves as a critical site for staging key commodities such as water, ice and tarps ahead of and during disaster response operations, as well as functioning as a command-and-control center for distributing and tracking shipments of essential supplies.

“We observed how the Louisiana National Guard quickly distributes essential commodities to the citizens in response to a disaster,” said Col. Eun Cha Yang, chief of the Civil-Military Operations Branch, ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff. “The ROK military’s main interest is how we can deliver humanitarian assistance to the Korean people as quickly as possible.”