Oregon Guard: Members already in Louisiana wait to support recovery efforts.

Byline: Rebecca Nolan The Register-Guard

Only 29 members of the Cottage Grove-based 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry Regiment, remained in Louisiana on Friday, and many of those soldiers were preparing to ride out the first hurricane of their lives.

As Hurricane Rita bore down on Texas and southwest Louisiana with sustained winds of 120 mph, the soldiers left the air base in Alexandria, La., where they had been stationed since leaving New Orleans on Tuesday. They were headed with their equipment toward Lafayette, La., to join what is now being called Task Force Rita.

"It has really started to rain, and the wind has picked up," Capt. Peter Aguilar of Eugene shouted into a cell phone as troops scrambled to leave Alexandria, where they had spent the past few days waiting to learn whether they would be sent home or redeployed elsewhere.

Aguilar said the clouds had started rolling in earlier that morning.

About 1,400 Oregon Guard soldiers remain in the area, and because of their performance in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the Gulf Coast states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, they have been selected to lead this second recovery effort, Oregon Guard spokeswoman Kay Fristad said.

Brigadier General Douglas Pritt of Salem, commander of Oregon's 41st Brigade Combat Team, will take command of thousands of soldiers and airmen from several states, including Oregon's two infantry battalions and an aviation task force, as well as units from Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Missouri.

The task force will support local recovery efforts and provide humanitarian assistance and security to residents of areas most affected by Hurricane Rita.

Already heavy rains had breached two patched levees in New Orleans, sending waist-deep water flooding back into the recently dried-out Ninth Ward and Gentilly district, where the Cottage Grove-based soldiers had spent two weeks helping evacuate stranded people and pets and removing debris from the roadways.

Back in Alexandria, the remaining soldiers of the 162nd had been working as a liaison team, helping coordinate civilian efforts with those of the military and government, Second Lt. Kyle Akers of Portland said.

"It's amazing when you see a city's infrastructure collapse," Akers said. "I've never seen a gas station be out of gas before."

People trying to flee the Gulf Coast a second time in four weeks have drained the pumps of fuel. And while gas prices hold steady at about $2.69 per gallon in the region, it doesn't really matter if the pump has run dry, Aguilar said.

"People are definitely stocking up on everything they might need," he said.

A total of 285 soldiers from three companies of the 162nd had been working in New Orleans for two weeks. They moved up to Alexandria on Tuesday to catch planes home or await their next assignment. Most had flown home by Friday morning.

A total of 2,000 Oregon soldiers have been sent to the Gulf Coast since Sept. 2. The Oregon Guard's goal is to have everyone home by Oct. 6. Other states are readying their soldiers to support the relief effort and allow Oregon soldiers to return home to their families, jobs and other responsibilities, Fristad said.

LEARN MORE

To view the photos and personal stories of Oregon National Guard soldiers deployed in the Gulf Coast, log on to www.jtfp.org.