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Just over a month ago, Governor Holcomb activated the INDIANA NATIONAL GUARD to provide support during the coronavirus pandemic.  They’ve been on the front lines since the beginning, in fact the Governor mentioned the Guard in last Thursday’s Covid-19 briefing. “Indiana would have been slower out of the gate without them”.

Adjutant General Dale Lyles joined me on “The First Day” for an update on what the Guard has been able to accomplish. “To see what we’ve seen and what the Guard has done both inside Indiana and throughout the United States has really renewed my belief in the importance of the National Guard.”

Has the role of the National Guard changed from week one to today in regards to the pandemic?   General Lyle says it has. “I would call it an escalated response to an unknown. We started off mobilizing soldiers to help with logistics and supply chain distribution.  Then we moved to putting some of our Medics on Active Duty to help with testing at Testing sights.   And now it’s grown into providing security around Indiana.”

General Lyles says Indiana National Guard Troops are tracking the virus and predicting where it goes next.  “Our Officers have been trained to understand what the enemy is doing and anticipating it’s next action. You can take that same training and apply it to the pandemic  We don’t like to work in today, we want to work 72-96 hours or a week or two out. We really like to work in the future.  It’s been hard quite honestly, with this particular virus, but we’ve been successful in working with Dr. Box and her team in staying ahead of it.

A lot of the Indiana National Guard’s time has been spent at the area food banks. General Lyle’s says it makes him proud.  “For our soldiers to be able to help in this time when the demand at our food banks has been exponentially higher, has been really quite warming for me.

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