Approximately 75 engineers from the Kansas National Guard will deploy to Colorado to assist in rebuilding highways damaged by recent flooding in that state.

The Kansas National Guardsmen will deploy Oct. 16 from Salina and report to the Colorado National Guard armory in Boulder. They are expected to be deployed for approximately 18 days. The equipment for the mission will be supplied by the Colorado National Guard. The Guardsmen are from the 891st Engineer Battalion (Iola), 226th Engineer Company (Augusta), 242nd Engineer Company (Coffeyville), 772nd Engineer Company (Pittsburg), 190th Air Refueling Wing Civil Engineering Squadron (Topeka), and 184th Intelligence Wing Civil Engineering Squadron (Wichita).

“Our Guardsmen are always ready and willing to respond when a disaster hits, either at home or to help our neighbors in other states,” said Maj. Gen. Lee Tafanelli, the adjutant general. “Just last year, some of our helicopter crews responded to assist in combating wildfires in Colorado and I know our friends out there will be just as willing to come to our aid, if we ever need them.”

The assistance to Colorado was arranged by the Kansas Division of Emergency Management, a division of the Adjutant General’s Department, through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact. EMAC is a multistate, mutual aid agreement that facilitates interstate assistance in response and recovery operations during a disaster. Kansas Guardsmen have deployed to other states under the EMAC agreement to battle forest fires, aid in recovery after hurricanes and for other disasters.