Local National Guard units to staff JWA

Deepa Bharath

COSTA MESA -- California Army and Air National Guards will start

working at local airports by the end of the week, officials said.

That also includes guard members from the 222nd Combat Communications

Squad of the California Air National Guard based in the city, near Bark

Park on Newport Boulevard.

Commanding officer Kerry Adams said he is not sure how many guards

will be asked to go from his 110-member unit or where they will go.

“Nothing is clear yet,” he said “But we know our training will start

soon. That’s what we’re talking about right now.”

Not all guards from the unit will be participating, Adams said.

“But we don’t know the exact numbers yet,” he said. “We’re told [the

program] will begin this week, but it will take four to six months before

the whole operation is in place.”

The Costa Mesa unit has 105 enlisted members and five officers.

It is more likely that guard members from local units will be assigned

to nearby airports, said Major Stan Zezotarski, spokesman for the Army

National Guard in Sacramento. So it is probable that guard members from

the Costa Mesa unit may be sent to John Wayne Airport, he said.

Guards will not be picked by units but will be asked to volunteer to

go on their assignments, he said.

“We’ll start sending them out in the next two or three days,” he said.

But first they will undergo a two-day training session at the Federal

Aviation Administration, Zezotarski said.

The guards’ main mission is to restore public confidence in air travel

and spread a general sense of safety and security, he said.

“Our volunteers will operate X-ray machines and maintain a presence in

the airports,” Zezotarski said. “They will also help break up scuffles or

any kind of disruptions that occur.”