{"id":36013,"date":"2020-03-27T16:30:19","date_gmt":"2020-03-27T16:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/03\/27\/latest-guard-update-more-than-12300-troops-mobilized-for-covid-19-response\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:46:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:46:49","slug":"latest-guard-update-more-than-12300-troops-mobilized-for-covid-19-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/coronavirus\/2020\/03\/27\/latest-guard-update-more-than-12300-troops-mobilized-for-covid-19-response\/","title":{"rendered":"Latest Guard update: More than 12,300 troops mobilized for COVID-19 response"},"content":{"rendered":"
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All 50 of the nation’s governors have declared emergencies in their states and now many are starting to activate their Air and Army National Guard to help<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

The number of Guard troops mobilized in the effort to cope with the coronavirus pandemi<\/a>c continues to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of Friday morning, there are more than 12,300 Air and Army National Guard professionals are supporting the COVID-19 crisis response at the direction of their governors. That\u2019s an increase of almost 1,000 troops since Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, 11 states and two territories have approved use of Dual-Status Commanders, giving them the authority to command active and reserve component troops under control of a state\u2019s governor. That\u2019s up from eight on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Governors across all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Washington D.C. have each mobilized components of their Army and Air National Guard to assist in their state\u2019s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, eight states have now approved the use of Dual-Status Commanders, giving them the authority to command active and reserve component troops under control of a state\u2019s governor. As a governors\u2019 response to the coronavirus pandemic continues to evolve, so does the Guard response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThanks to the 12,300 plus National Guard men and women responding to this crisis across the nation,” Air Force Gen. Joseph Lengyel, Chief, National Guard Bureau, said in a media release. \u201cKnow that what you do in your state is part of a nation-wide effort to combat this virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe talk about this as 54 separate hurricane, but COVID-19 knows no state boundaries,\u201d said Lengyel. \u201cWhat we do in one state has implications for all states. You are impacting how fast we get this massive American machine up and running again. Thanks for all you are doing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

National Guard support focuses on supporting community based testing sites and creating enhanced medical capacity. Guard officials once again repeated that this is not an effort to enforce martial law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are here to protect our communities, not police them,” said Lt. Gen. Daniel R. Hokanson, Director of the Army National Guard .<\/p>\n\n\n\t