7th Civil Support Team tests ability to fly via Air Guard to training event

Pulaski County Daily News ^ | 3/1/2010 | Matthew J. Wilson/Missouri National Guard Public Affairs

[darrellmaurina]

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (March 1, 2010) — As part of its yearly training doctrine, the 7th Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team, a full-time Missouri National Guard unit based at Fort Leonard Wood, goes through the process of making its tactical vehicles and trailers flight-ready in the event it would need air transport to a real-world incident. “We are a rapid deployable unit,” said Capt. Theresa Wagner, the team’s operations officer who lives in Saint Robert. “If there would be an incident in New York, we would have to be able to get there within our response time.” Sgt. 1st Class Juan Gallego, the team’s reconnaissance noncommissioned officer in charge, led the tasking of preparing the trucks for flight. “It was a lot of hard work,” said Gallego, who lives in Waynesville. Recently, the Missouri National Guard team from Fort Leonard Wood not only went through the preparations, but it also executed them as the team flew from post on Air National Guard C-130s for a week of training in Albuquerque, N.M. “This had good training value just because it showed the team how much detail and hard work it’s going to take when you do have to fly,” said Gallego. “It’s not just like jumping in the truck and going, like we are more accustomed to.”