As part of the law enforcement team, reservists provided force protection, conducted boardings, and served on shoreside facility patrols during the response to Hurricane Ida in August 2021. Photo courtesy of Lt. Cmdr. Bobbie Ketchey. Reservists stand the watch, providing force protection during Hurricane Ida Story by Lt. Cmdrs. Bobbie Ketchey and Ethan Postrel Hundreds of thousands were still without power. Streets were flooded. Debris was scattered everywhere. It was only a few days after Hurricane Ida made landfall along the Louisiana shoreline August 29, 2021, but already more than a dozen Coast Guard boarding officers, boarding team members, and station personnel had already responded to the area. The law enforcement team–comprising mostly reservists– would almost double within the coming days. Their mission was providing force protection, law enforcement, and ports, waterways, and coastal security (PWCS) support within the Sector New Orleans area of responsibility. The first two members to arrive at the Sector, Petty Officer 1st Class Brian Royak, from Station Sabine and Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryland Halliburton from Station South Padre Island, met two damage controlmen who had ridden out the storm in the Sector building. The next day, they were joined by 15 more personnel. Together they began working with two chief petty officers to establish a watch rotation for physical security at the Sector and begin planning for other operations. For the first several days, members slept on cots in tents and took shelter in various Sector spaces, eating MREs, and exhibiting impressive initiative in finding work and establishing processes. Members backfilled for the sector boarding team, whose members had evacuated with their families, and the mobilized group conducted its first high-interest vessel security boarding within 48 hours of arrival, facilitating the quick return of commerce in the largest-deep water port by tonnage. Lt. j.g. MacKenzie Hannon from Sector Lake Michigan was tasked with leading shore side patrols and assessing security vulnerabilities at the many controlled facilities within the AOR. Multiple significant security violations were identified. At the peak of its operations, the group was performing many simultaneous missions: • Around-the-clock force protection at Sector New Orleans • Overnight force protection in Houma, Louisiana, at a tent city and Enhanced Mobile Incident Command Post (EMICP) known as “Camp Equity” • Overnight force protection in Morgan City, at a boathouse storing key material at a tent city and other Coast Guard-occupied facilities • High-interest vessel security boardings • Shoreside facility patrols Members also assisted with various logistical support functions as needed. The group’s efforts allowed returning sector boarding team personnel to safely assess their personal property damage and reestablish their personal lives. Members conducted 14 vessel escorts, patrolled 125 shore side port facilities along 350 miles of Mississippi River coastline, and provided almost 2,400 hours of force protection. As true reservists, even in their down time, members worked on boat forces insignia and ICS staff qualification sign-offs. Members of the group were among the first to respond and were some of the last to leave, showing true dedication in the wake of Hurricane Ida. � Issue 1 • 2022 � RESERVIST 13
