Sandbags

Soldiers assigned to the 134th Cavalry Squadron and the 195th Forward Support Company, Nebraska National Guard, performed sling load operations to help fight overflowing floodwaters during the 2019 Nebraska flood.

The Soldiers prepared more than 1,000 vertical lift sandbags to be sling loaded by CH-47 Chinook and UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters and placed in critically threatened areas to prevent greater flood damage.

Nebraska National Guard Soldiers from the 195th Forward Support Company (Special Operations) (Airborne) and the 1-134th Cavalry perform sling load operations, March 21, 2019 in Nemaha, Nebraska. After the CH-47 Chinook helicopter flew in, the riggers hooked the sandbag straps onto the helicopter to air lift the sandbags to patch levee breaks and reinforce at-risk infrastructure due to severe statewide flooding. (Nebraska National Guard photos by Staff Sgt. Natasha Hilsgen)

“If you look back to the history of the guard, we were always meant to help our homeland,” said Sgt. 1st Class Michael Belleci, a platoon sergeant assigned to the 134th Cavalry in Hastings, Nebraska. “When the state has such a horrible thing happen to it, such as the floods, it is really nice to lend a hand and let the people of Nebraska see that their National Guard really supports them and is behind them 100 percent.”

The aerial delivery operations allowed the 1,500-pound sandbags to be placed directly into river systems to reinforce levees or to act as barriers to help prevent or limit more damage to property. Many of the Soldiers supporting the missions were trained, airborne parachute riggers. This skillset is vital to military operations, as they prepare essential supplies for missions, such as food, water, fuel and equipment for aerial delivery.

Nebraska Army National Guard Soldiers use both UH-60 Blackhawk and CH-47 Chinook helicopters to place 1,500-pound sandbags into damaged levees and other river locations across the state throughout March 2019 after historic flooding threatened critical infrastructure. (Nebraska National Guard photos by Staff Sgt. Koan Nissen, Staff Sgt. Herschel Talley and Staff Sgt. Natasha Hilsgen)

The riggers are tasked with securing the sand bags on to the helicopter. The riggers stand by the sandbags and wait for the helicopter to hover down over the sandbags. Once the pilots position the helicopter right above the sandbags, the riggers hook the sandbag straps onto the helicopter. The riggers then slowly back away from the helicopter as it gently lifts the sandbags off the ground.

“It’s a big adrenaline rush,” said Sgt. Sean Roth a cavalry scout with Troop B, 134th Cavalry from Meade, Nebraska. “Just seeing the Chinook come right in front of your face and you’re underneath it; you are like, ‘Okay, we are doing this.’”

Throughout Nebraska’s flood support, riggers performed multiple sling load operations across the state, including preparing and placing sandbags at the Cooper Nuclear Station near Brownsville, Nebraska, and near wells on the Platte River, which supply some of Lincoln’s water. 

 “Seeing the community just come together like they’ve been doing and everybody working together as a whole,” Roth said. “This is a very humbling experience.”