CONTACT: For more information contact: Mr. Eric Durr , 518-786-4581 or 518-429-5186 (cell) or Lt. Col. Kimberly Terpening, 518-344-2103

FOR RELEASE: Friday, Jun 05, 2009

Guardsmen from Buffalo, Lockport, and New York City Converge on Base

SCOTIA, NY (06/03/2009)-- Stratton Air National Guard Base and the 109th Airlift Wing will be hosting more than 350 New York Army and Air National Guard personnel from around New York June 5, 6 and 7 as part of Empire 09 Plus, a National Guard Support to Civil Authorities Exercise. The National Guard exercise piggybacks onto the state/federal Empire 09 emergency preparedness exercise set to end on Thursday evening. The air base will serve as a reception station for Army and Air National Guard members from all over the state who will exercise at the Office of Fire Prevention and Control's Urban Search and Rescue Center in Albany on Saturday, June 6. Members of the all-volunteer New York Guard, a state force, will also participate in the exercise. This will result in increased traffic in the area of Stratton Air National Guard Base as truck convoy's from Buffalo, Lockport, Auburn, and the New York City area converge on the base. The 109th will exercise their ability to feed and house an influx of Soldiers and Airmen pouring into the Capitol Region to aid in an emergency situation. The military calls this process J RSOI, for Joint Reception, Staging, Onward movement and Integration. In an emergency Stratton Air National Guard Base would serve the National Guard and other relief agencies as a base for people and supplies to flow into the region.