North Dakota National Guard Help Fight Floods

Department of Defense Photo Essay

  • U.S. Army Master Sgt. Traver Silbernagel, left, and Maj. Gen. David Sprynczynatyk, the North Dakota adjutant general, listen to Air Force Capt. Jennifer Silbernagel, a North Dakota Guardsman, who has been serving in United Arab Emirates for the past two months. Silbernagel witnessed her husband's surprise promotion via Skype. It was held at the North Dakota National Guard's Emergency Operations Center, which is at the North Dakota Air National Guard base in Fargo, N.D. Traver has been working a 12-hour night shift during the flood. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Master Sgt. David H. Lipp
  • North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven, right, visits a home owner in south Fargo, N.D., March 16, 2010. U.S. airmen and civilians built sandbag flood barriers in the backyards of homes in the area to try to prevent the rising Red River from flooding that part of the city. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Master Sgt. David H. Lipp
  • From left to right, Air Force Col. Brad Derrig, 119th Wing, North Dakota Air National Guard, Army Maj. Gen. David Sprynczynatyk, North Dakota's adjutant general, and Gov. John Hoeven speak to community officials at city hall in Fargo, N.D., March 16, 2010. The group met to discuss National Guard assistance with flood-fighting activities. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Master Sgt. David H. Lipp
  • U.S. Air Force airman 1st Class Casey Pritchard assembles a section of the experimental AquaFence flood protection barrier in Fargo, N.D., March 17, 2010. The fence was installed to see if it could be an effective flood barrier. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Master Sgt. David H. Lipp
  • U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Amy Wieser Willson, the deputy public information officer for the eastern North Dakota National Guard's joint force headquarters, takes notes and assists members of the press near an experimental flood barrier in Fargo, N.D., March 17, 2010. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Master Sgt. David H. Lipp
  • U.S. Army Spc. Danny Gross directs traffic at an intersection in Lisbon, N.D., March 17, 2010. Gross manned the traffic control point to allow dump trucks carrying dike-building clay to quickly get to flood fighting locations. Gross is assigned to the 191st Military Police Company, North Dakota National Guard. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Master Sgt. David H. Lipp
  • U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Nathan Svenkerud, center, passes a sandbag as airmen and civilian volunteers build a flood barrier in the Timberline area of south Fargo, N.D., March 17, 2010. Svenkerud is assigned to the 119th Communications Flight, North Dakota Air National Guard. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Master Sgt. David H. Lipp
  • Konny Zins, left, looks on as U.S. soldiers assigned to the North Dakota Army National Guard build a sandbag flood barrier in her backyard just outside Lisbon, N.D., March 17, 2010. Her husband, Darin, is a sergeant in the North Dakota Army National Guard. He is currently deployed to Kosovo as part of the NATO peacekeeping forces. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Master Sgt. David H. Lipp
  • U.S. Army Spc. Tim Sybrant, left, passes sandbags to Pfc. Scott Ness during operations to hold back the rising waters of the Sheyenne River in North Dakota, March 17, 2010. The two service members are building a sandbag flood barrier in the backyard of Konny Zinns and her husband Sgt. Darin Zinns, who is deployed with the 231st Maneuver Task Force, part of the NATO peacekeeping forces in Kosovo. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Master Sgt. David H. Lipp
  • U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Travis Besette, center, catches a sandbag to pass along a human chain of airmen, March 16, 2010, in Fargo, N.D. Besette is assigned to 119th Civil Engineer Squadron, North Dakota Air National Guard. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Master Sgt. David H. Lipp
  • U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Kyle Kemmet, left, hands a sandbag to Master Sgt. David Larson as they try to prevent the rising Red River from flooding homes in Fargo, N.D., March 16, 2010. Both men are assigned to the 119th Logistics Readiness Squadron, North Dakota Air National Guard. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Master Sgt. David H. Lipp
  • U.S. Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Susan Schroeder smiles as she passes a sandbag along a group of civilian volunteers and North Dakota Air National Guard personnel, building a flood barrier, March 17, 2010, in Fargo, N.D. The civilian and military personnel movied sandbags from pallets in front yard driveways into flood prone areas of backyards in the south Fargo neighborhood called the Timberline area. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Master Sgt. David H. Lipp
  • U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Eric Johnson interviews Maj. Gen. David Sprynczynatyk, the North Dakota adjutant general, March 16, 2010, as he discusses the National Guard's efforts to fight floods in the south end of Fargo, N.D. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Master Sgt. David H. Lipp
  • U.S. Air Force Tech Sgt. Kevin Reinhardt, left, and Staff Sgt. Anthony Salquist prepare 1.5-ton sandbags for filling with sand from a cement truck so they can be used in flood fighting operations. The large sandbags were being readied, March 19, 2010, at the North Dakota Air National Guard, Fargo, N.D., for UH-60 helicopter sling-load operations, should they be necessary in an emergency to battle rising floodwaters anywhere in eastern North Dakota. Both are assigne to the 119th Logistics Readiness Squadron U.S. Air Force by Senior Master Sgt. David H. Lipp