Task Force Maine: Mainers in the
Green Mountains
By 1st Lt. Jonathan Bratten, 133rd Engineering Battalion, Photos by Sgt. Angela Parady, 121st Public Affairs Det.
When Tropical Storm Irene
blew through New England, I
was driving back to Maine from
Canada. That should already
show the faith I have that the
weather forecasts will always
be wrong. Aside from the gusts
of wind that took a few power
lines down in the road and the
torrential downpour that we hit
in northern Maine, the trip was
fairly uneventful.
By the time we reached
Portland, the rain had stopped
and the storm showed signs of
leaving for good. I once again
chalked up a win for stubborn
Mainers who refused to be
put out by a small thing like
a hurricane. But Maine is not
Vermont. And Irene was no joke
for Vermont.
It was the Thursday after Irene
came through that I received
the phone call notifying me
to be at the armory with my
platoon in 14 hours. 36 hours
later we had a convoy of over
70 vehicles rolling out of Maine.
My unit, the 262d Engineer
Company, was tasked as the
lead element of the operation,
with other units of our battalion
sending detachments.
All told, almost 200 Maine
Guardsmen made the long haul
from Maine to Vermont. As a
brand new platoon leader, this
was to be my first convoy. Not
only that, but I was assigned
the lead chalk. It was an eyeopening experience: planning
and executing that kind of
movement with little time to
plan showed me just what the
Guard is capable of.
We rolled into Rutland, VT close
to midnight that night, forced to
take a very long route because
so many of the roads were out.
Even at that late hour, people
still came out to line the street
and wave at us as we drove in,
beginning a trend of generous
local support that would
continue to the very end.
Irene had caused
massive infrastructural
damage to Vermont’s
transportation system:
roads, bridges, and
railways were simply
gone in some places.
Continued rain caused
even more flooding.
Soon after we were on the
ground, we were given
mission assignments. Some
units went off to repair roads,
others cleaned out washed out
buildings. My platoon was sent
out for debris removal. I didn’t
understand what this meant
until I saw the debris. And just
how much of it there was.
Trees from further upstream
had been torn out by the roots
and pulled down river by the
torrent. Silt beds four feet
high had gathered in some
places. As long as the river was
clogged, more rain would mean
more flooding.
My platoon hit the ground
running on Monday morning,
eager to start work. In their
typical good humor, they
had designated the name of
our assignment “Operation
Vermonty Python.” This sort of
humor could also be seen from
the locals. On an area of the
road that had been filled with
river silt, someone had placed a
beach chair, beach umbrella, a
six pack of Corona, and a sign
that read “Vermont Beach.”
Our days became fairly
routine: cut up the timber,
haul away the stumps and
garbage, repeat. My soldiers
were honestly an inspiration
to watch. Even in the worst
kind of weather they were in
good spirits. I attribute part of
this to the massive amounts
of food that we were being
given by the locals. Almost
daily, someone would drop off
pizza, doughnuts, or cookies,
in addition to the great food we
were getting at our billets.
Our job site had the added
wrinkle of being the new VT
Route 7, as the original one had
washed out. Over 7,000 cars
would go through our work area
in just one day. Honks, waves,
and thumbs up made us realize
just how appreciative the locals
were.
Local school kids made
hundreds of cards for us,
thanking us for our work.
Honestly, that alone made the
job worthwhile.
Our mission lasted two weeks.
As a historian, I can’t help
but look at all the numbers
and statistics of the mission:
my platoon hauled 237 5-ton
dump truck loads of debris.
They cleared almost six acres
of land. They worked with
National Guardsmen from
three other states as well as
local civilian contractors. But
for me, the statistics don’t
do it. For me, seeing people’s
faces light up when they would
see our vehicles made it all
worthwhile. To see kids waving
in the school buses that went
by every day. As corny as it
sounds, that really is why I
joined the National Guard, to be
able to respond to disasters and
bring relief to those in my own
country.
When we got home, we cleaned
up our vehicles, put away our
equipment, and went back to
our regular jobs. And that’s
the amazing thing about the
National Guard. In 36 hours
you can go from being a regular
civilian (having what he thinks
is a day off, which was what
I was doing when the call
came) to rolling down the road
in a convoy bringing aid to a
disaster area. Just as quickly,
you can go right back into the
civilian world. I continue to be
amazed at soldiers’ ability to
adapt.