DENISON, Texas (Dec. 9, 2013) - Citizen-Soldiers with the 176th Engineer Brigade, Texas Army National Guard, provides support to state and local officials during Winter Storm Cleon, as named by the National Weather Service, in north Texas, Dec 5-9, 2013.

 

At the request of Gov. Rick Perry, about 50 members of the Grand Prairie-based brigade suited up in cold-weather gear and headed out in Humvees and Light MEdium Tactical Vehicles (LMTVs) to help preposition state assets as the storm approached. Soldiers were stationed along the major highways here, as well as in Wichita Falls.

 

In fact, preliminary reportsd  from the Texas Military Forces Joint Operations Center indicate the deployed Soldiers aided more than 120 stranded vehicles, conducted more than 225 welfare checks and assisted with the tsetup of a Red Cross Shelter in Valley View, near Wichita Falls.

 

"We had a great response when the call went out," said 2nd Lt. Clayton Harrison, and engineer with the brigade's Lewisville-based 236th Engineering Company. "We were ready to move out less than 12 hours after we got notified that we'd be responding to this storm."

 

Although no one was quite certain what the storm would bring, Harrison said he and his soldiers were in contact with the Texas Deparment of Public Safety (DPS).

 

"According to DPS, we'll assis in vehicle recovery, especially if they end up shutting down the highway," he said.

 

On Friday, Dec. 6, 2013, when the storm had come and gone, the real scope of the job ahead was revealed to Harrison and his soldiers. Although the storm had not dropped much snow on the area, it was the ice underneath that proved to be the  biggest challenge for those on the highways.