Alert Status Devils Lake ND Guard Unit

Bismarck  (CSi, Nat Guard)   A North Dakota Army National Guard unit has received an alert notification for possible mobilization. About 60 members of the 136th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion (CSSB), which is based in Devils Lake, North Dakota, were placed in an alert status. The decision to mobilize this unit has not yet occurred, but upon a final decision, an official Department of the Army mobilization order will be published.

If mobilized, the unit will provide area logistical support to U.S. and Coalition forces assigned to the combined joint operational area-Afghanistan early next year.

“The men and women of the 136th CSSB are fully qualified logisticians trained to employ their skills in a myriad of support operations,” said Maj. Gen. Alan S. Dohrmann, North Dakota adjutant general. “In addition to the technical competence of our Soldiers, the support of their families, friends and employers during this overseas deployment, will help ensure their overall mission success.”

The Soldiers were notified of their alert status by their leadership. The unit specializes in providing command and control structure for assigned or attached units. The unit can provide sustainment at all three operational levels of support – strategic, operational and tactical – with any configuration of modular units assigned or attached within their command and control structure to achieve a commander’s intent.

The unit is led by Lt. Col. Brock Larson, of Bismarck, and Command Sgt. Maj. Darcy Schwind, of Mandan, North Dakota. Soldiers in the unit hail from more than 25 communities across North Dakota, Minnesota, Kentucky and Nevada.

About 10 North Dakota Guardsmen are currently serving overseas, and no other unit is on alert for possible mobilization at this time.

—
Since the 2001 terrorist attacks on America, the North Dakota National Guard has mobilized more than 4,200 Soldiers and over 2,600 Airmen in support of the Global War on Terrorism. About 70 percent of all members serving today have joined since that time. Currently, nearly 10 North Dakota Guardsmen are mobilized for overseas and domestic service. With a total force of about 4,100 Guardsmen, the North Dakota National Guard remains ready for stateside response and national defense. For every 10,000 citizens in North Dakota, 65 serve in the North Dakota National Guard, a rate that’s more than four times the national average.