Nevada Guard backs first responders for 22nd year at ‘America’s Party’

 Americas_PartyPhoto By Spc. Adrianne Lopez


Story by Spc. Adrianne Lopez

17th Sustainment Brigade Public Affairs Section  

 

The Nevada National Guard completed its 22nd year assisting first responders in Las Vegas for “America’s Party” — an annual New Year’s Eve celebration that regularly brings more than 300,000 partygoers to the Entertainment Capital of the World.

About 220 Guardsmen and women assisted for the activation this year. More than 100 of those were on the Las Vegas Strip to assist with crowd control and ensure a safe celebration. Additionally, about 40 members of the Nevada Air Guard backed staffs at University Medical Center and Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center on Friday and into the early hours of Saturday morning for potential triage support in the case of any emergency. This support has been requested the past four years following the Route 91 mass shooting in Las Vegas that killed 60 country music concertgoers in 2017.

"The Nevada National Guard has been so busy the past two years with the pandemic, overseas deployments, firefighting and so much more," Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak told a group of Guardsmen and women at the Speedway Armory in Las Vegas this week. "This mission in support of local law enforcement is crucial to ensure we are prepared for anything that happens on The Strip during 'America's Party.' I can’t thank you all enough for stepping up and supporting the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and Clark County Emergency Management during this year's celebration."

The cooperative New Year’s mission is headed by Clark County Emergency Management and supported by the Nevada National Guard, local and federal law enforcement and several other city, county and state agencies.

“Many of our Guardsmen work full-time as law enforcement officers,” said Maj. Gen Ondra Berry, Nevada’s adjutant general, who served as the assistant police chief in the Reno Police Department during his 25-year career in law enforcement while also serving as a member of the Nevada Air Guard. “We work hand-in-hand with members of law enforcement for myriad training exercises and real-world scenarios. It’s not unusual to see them working together.”

Various forms of the cooperative New Year’s Eve mission and training exercises have occurred since the Y2K scare of 1999.

Metro Sgt. Timothy Frederick, who works in the event planning unit, thanked the Guardsmen and women.

“On behalf of Metro, thank you for your help,” said Frederick, who is also a major and traditional Guardsman in the Nevada Army National Guard. “We couldn’t do it without you.”