Maj. Rob Peleschak, Joint Force Headquarters, center, participates in a flood response exercise in the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC), Bismarck, N.D. March 3, 2022. Peleschak serves as the Guard's liaison to the SEOC. (National Guard photo by Officer Candidate Michaela C.P. Granger, National Guard Public Affairs)
Joint Flood Response Exercise
Members of the N.D. National Guard (NDNG) in coordination with the N.D. Department of Emergency Services (NDDES) conducted a flood response exercise from March 3 to 6, at Fraine Barracks in Bismarck. (National Guard story by Officer Candidate Michaela C.P. Granger, N.D. National Guard Public Affairs)
About 35 Soldiers and Airmen from the National Guard’s Domestic Operations Section worked from the organization’s Joint Operations Center (JOC), exercising command and control for military response resources during the exercise. Emergency services staff participated` from the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC), working with the National Guard and other partner agencies to coordinate a state response based on the exercise scenarios.
The exercise allowed NDDES and the NDNG to reestablish working relationships across Team North Dakota needed for effective joint response operations. This exercise will include response planning, operational coordination, information, and intelligence gathering as well as public information and warnings. These types of exercises are reoccurring events and usually concentrate on flooding and blizzard response. While North Dakota is not expecting major flooding this year, this exercise provides opportunities for different agencies to work together to review and improve response processes.
Besides NDNG and NDDES, the exercise included representatives from the National Weather Service, North Dakota’s Department of Water Resources, Department of Human Services, Department of Health, Department of Transportation, and Highway Patrol.
Members of the N.D. Department of Emergency Services, N.D. National Guard and partner agencies participate in a flood response exercise in the State Emergency Operations Center, Bismarck, N.D. March 3, 2022. (National Guard photos by Officer Candidate Michaela C.P. Granger, National Guard Public Affairs)
Lt. Col. Mark Topp briefs Soldiers and Airmen during a flood response exercise in the Joint Operations Center, Bismarck, N.D. March 4, 2022. (National Guard photos by Sgt. 1st Class Chad Highland, N.D. National Guard Public Affairs)
Hooligan Carries on Family's Military Legacy
First Lieutenant Crystal Telling, 119th Force Support Squadron (FSS) director of personnel, is carrying on a family tradition of enlisted military service and taking it a step further by serving as an officer in the N.D. Air National Guard. (National Guard story and photos by David Lipp, 119th Wing Public Affairs)
Telling’s father, mother, and step-father all served as enlisted members of the U.S. Air Force, with her mother and step-father continuing their enlisted service in the Alaska Air National Guard. Her mother, Chief Master Sgt. Tran Brunsberg, went on to become the 168th Wing command chief and her aunt, Chief Master Sgt. Kim Groat, is the current state command chief in the Alaska Air National Guard.
Telling served in the Alaska Air National Guard as an enlisted member from 2009 through 2015. She continued as an enlisted member in the N.D. Air National Guard before earning her commission as a second lieutenant in the 119th Wing, Nov. 9, 2018.
1st Lt. Crystal Telling, 119th Force Support Squadron director of personnel, discusses policies with another unit member in her office at the N.D. Air National Guard Base, Fargo, N.D., March 3, 2022.
Telling was selected as the 119th outstanding noncommissioned officer of the year for 2017, as a staff sergeant serving as a financial management technician in the 119th Comptroller Flight. She has recently been facing challenging times with many 119th FSS members serving on their six-month unit reserve component period 6 (RCP6) deployments, leaving the organization a little short of personnel. The challenges have been accentuated by unique personnel issues presented by the unit support of FEMA and department of health requests for assistance in the COVID-19 fight, which continued throughout the RCP6 activation.
1st Lt. Crystal Telling, 119th Force Support Squadron director of personnel, looks over the shoulder of Airman 1st Class Sandra Sprenger, as they discuss office policy at the North Dakota Air National Guard Base, Fargo, N.D., March 3, 2022.
OPSEC Training
The Director of Military Support and the Operational Security (OPSEC) office hosted an Army OPSEC Program Manager/Officer Course (OPSEC Level II) Mobile Training Team (MTT) at Bismarck Aviation Readiness Center, February 22, 2022, to train Soldiers to serve as Battalion level and above OPSEC Officers for their designated units. (National Guard story by Master Sgt. Jerry Dodds, OPSEC Program coordinator, and photos by Capt. Vanessa Lennick, N.D. National Guard Visual Information Office)
Maj. Adam Forrester and Capt. Owen Bargar, information operation officers with the 71st Theatre Information Group, Texas National Guard, conducted the training. The training helps the N.D. Guard Soldiers to prepare for a National Guard Bureau OPSEC assessment.
OPSEC protects sensitive and critical information from adversary observation and collection in ways that traditional security programs cannot. The OPSEC process identifies the critical information of military plans, operations, and supporting activities and the indicators that can reveal it. It then develops measures to eliminate, reduce, or conceal those indicators. It also determines when that information may cease to be critical in the lifespan of an organization’s specific operation. This training teaches Soldiers about the importance of managing and safeguarding information that commanders deem critical for mission success.
N.D. National Guard Soldiers attend operational security (OPSEC) training at the N.D. Army Aviation Support Facility, Feb. 22, 2022.
Bobcats Honor Guard Vets
The Bismarck Bobcats hockey team recently recognized two N.D. National Guard Soldiers as part of their intermission activities, at the VFW Sports Center, Bismarck, N.D. (National Guard story by Officer Candidate Michaela C.P. Granger, N.D. National Guard Public Affairs)
Sgt. 1st Class Chris Dietz, on Feb. 25, 2022, and Sgt. Brian Mortiz was honored at the game the following day. Dietz is credited with three combat deployments. Operation Desert Storm 1990 to 1991; Operation Iraqi Freedom, 2003 to 2005; and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010.
Moritz enlisted in the North Dakota National Guard in October 1996. In 2004, Moritz served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom with the 141st Engineer Battalion.
WWII Guard Vet Recognized
Retired Sgt. Maj. Benoni "Mick” McFerran is no stranger to Fraine Barracks, having lived and worked there for almost 50 years. While in uniform, he served as the chief of the vehicle maintenance shop and, after he retired from the Guard, as Fraine Barracks facility manager. (National Guard story by retired Lt. Col. Shirley J. Olgeirson, N.D. National Guard historian)
McFerran, who celebrated his 98th birthday last month, stopped in last week to visit his old stomping grounds. Upon arrival, he immediately noticed the modifications that were made within Fraser Hall, the N.D. National Guard Headquarters building. His old office is now occupied by an Air Guard recruiter, across the hall from other Air Guard offices which, in 1980, were occupied by inspector general and a young second lieutenant named Shirley Olgeirson, who is now the N.D. National Guard Historian.
McFerran began his military career in the U.S. Navy in 1943, where his service took him to Casablanca before assignment to the newly commissioned aircraft carrier USS Lexington. He has vivid memories of sailing from Boston through the Panama Canal to the South Pacific, where the Lexington served in World War II in the Pacific Theater.
The Lexington participated in combat operations at Tarawa, September 1943, and Wake Island, October 1943. Later that year, the ship operated near the Marshall Islands in November, and Kwajalein Islands, December 1943. During this campaign, the Lexington was credited with destroying almost 60 enemy aircraft and destroying/damaging multiple Japanese ships before being disabled by a torpedo. The ship limped back to Bremerton, Washington, for repairs on only two propellers and a makeshift rudder. While the ship was being repaired in late December 1943, McFerran slipped home to North Dakota to get married.
After World War II ended, in 1947, he joined the N.D. Army Guard one day after separating from the U.S. Navy. This allowed him to avoid a break in service. He worked full time with the N.D. National Guard from 1956 until he retired at age 60 in 1984. He continued working as a state employee as the civilian facility manager of Fraine Barracks until the late 1980s.
Retired Sgt. Maj. McFerran and retired Lt. Col. Shirley Olgeirson, N.D. National Guard Historian, look over old photos of Fraine Barracks, Bismarck, Feb. 25, 2022. (National Guard photo by Suzanne Richards, N.D. National Guard family programs)
McFerran also talked about managing the National Guard property that extended north of Fraine Barracks. Some of this property was sold or released over the years to accommodate other projects. These projects included interstate (I-94), Bismarck State College, and the trade of the old armory at Bismarck State College for the land on which Raymond J. Bohn armory is located.
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