Active-duty troops deployed to help respond to the widespread devastation caused by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina will be returning back to their regular missions this week, the Pentagon said Thursday.
Earlier this month, 1,000 troops -- an Infantry Battalion Task Force formed from the XVIII Airborne Corps, 82nd Airborne Division and other units from Fort Liberty, North Carolina -- were activated by the Pentagon to assist after Helene caused more than 200 deaths throughout the Southeast. Sabrina Singh, a Pentagon spokesperson, confirmed their role with the mission will be winding down.
"The active duty that were assisting North Carolina, particularly around Hurricane Helene, their mission is ending, and will be back, I think, tomorrow," Singh said during a press briefing. "During that time, they delivered an incredible amount of lifesaving aid to folks that needed it most in the North Carolina communities."
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Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon's top spokesman, told reporters earlier this week that those active-duty troops conducted more than 100 ground missions and 70 air missions, delivering nearly 500 tons of humanitarian aid by land and air -- equating to 154,415 gallons of water and about 20,000 meals. They also cleared debris from 660 miles of roads.
Ryder explained Tuesday that the active-duty troops' return would be a gradual process coordinated with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Northern Command.
"While these active-duty assets may be heading back to home station, the federal mission and federal support is not ending," Ryder said. "As active-duty service members transition out, the National Guard, FEMA and other federal, state and local agencies remain actively engaged to address ongoing needs, rebuild infrastructure and aid communities in long-term recovery."
Ryder also detailed that there are upward of 3,000 National Guardsmen assisting with recovery and response efforts for Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, a second storm that made landfall in Florida earlier this month.
As military communities were reeling from Hurricane Helene's damage to the Southeast, Milton followed shortly after, causing widespread evacuations as well as aircraft and ship movements, Military.com reported.
Singh did not provide any additional details Thursday on assessments of damage to U.S. military bases from the two hurricanes.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has spoken out about the long-standing damage that climate change and resulting catastrophic weather events as a result have caused the military.
In recent years, severe flooding damaged Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska; Hurricane Michael caused billions of dollars' worth of major damage at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida; and typhoons in Guam have caused the cancellation of major training exercises, according to the Pentagon.
In 2022, Military.com reported that Navy officials were weighing relocating Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in South Carolina due to the repercussions of climate change.
"No nation can find lasting security without addressing the climate crisis. We face all kinds of threats in our line of work, but few of them truly deserve to be called existential. The climate crisis does," Austin said in 2021.
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