FIRST DEPLOYMENT STORIES: The Volunteer Spirit

SAIPAN, Northern Marianas Islands—In April, one of the most powerful typhoons made landfall on the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands (CNMI)—Super Typhoon Sinlaku. With sustained winds at 170 mph, it was categorized as a “Super Typhoon” and a Category 5 storm.

The destruction Sinlaku caused on CNMI was no less than devasting. Across CNMI, there were reports of uprooted trees, overturned vehicles, toppled utility poles, loss of power, roofs ripped off homes, impassable roads, spoiled food due to loss of power, flooding and downed powerlines.

Then three months later, Super Typhoon Bavi hit. Though Bavi moved faster through the islands, it was stronger than Sinlaku. Winds were sustained at 185 mph. While Saipan and Tinian suffered damage, Rota—the southernmost island in CNMI—greatly suffered damage and loss power for almost two weeks.

Post-Sinlaku, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the American Red Cross, and other government and municipal agencies deployed to CNMI to assist in recovery efforts. Recovery was ongoing until Bavi halted operations, but USACE and their partners were able to respond quickly since they were already on the ground.

If you ask a USACE employee what an emergency mission is like, most will tell you that every mission is different. Each one is treated as a new experience with challenges and successes. From soldier to civilian, many have stated this was their first time deploying and shared their experience.

Meet Sarah Sarah L. Rhoton, a project engineer in USACE’s Honolulu District, volunteered for the Sinlaku mission to give back to a community in need. She relishes challenges and problem solving; and is impassioned about the CNMI people and her role in the Recovery Field Office (RFO).

**“**I woke up every morning thinking, ‘I can't wait to go to work today,’ because I've had a really great time here and it feels good supporting the people,” she said.

Rhoton is also an administrating contracting officer and contracting officer representative in her district, but she lives 2,000 miles from the district headquarters. She currently lives in the Republic of the Marshall Islands—2,000 miles from Hawaii and 2,000 from Australia. Her job is building all the family housing on Kwajalein Atoll, the southernmost and largest island in the RMI. So, she is accustomed to the island life.

Full Force into the Mission Originally hailing from Tennessee, she demonstrated the true volunteer spirit by heading full force into the mission.

“It's challenging. Working 12 hours every day…it's tiring but, I think everyone should do it at least once just to get the experience—come out and see the mass destruction and devastation and be able to contribute to fixing it,” she said.

Rhoton enjoys the fast-paced environment but spends her time in the Recovery Field Office as part of the planning team supporting the first responders in the field.

“I consider the first responders the heart of the mission,” she said. “They are out there actually executing these mission essential things that the residents need for their house and family. It's been nice to support them, but they are truly making it happen in the field.”

The role of the planning team in the RFO includes tracking accountability and movements every morning and updating the leadership on personnel status. Rhoton also does the hails and farewells for incoming and outgoing personnel to recognize their efforts in the mission. Additionally, she oversees the Reception, Staging, Onward Movement and Integration (RSOI) process to acclimate volunteers to the emergency operations environment; as well as other administrative duties such as assisting with time and attendance and travel vouchers.

Visiting Tinian At her home district, Rhoton spends about 20%-30% of her time in the field, but for the Sinlaku mission, she spends nearly 100% of her time inside the RFO. While it was an adjustment, she understands her part in the mission is vital. Although, she has been able to venture out into the field with USACE’s Grid Power and Critical Infrastructure teams on the CMNI island of Tinian.

Rhoton assisted the teams with assessments on the power plant and the Northern Marianas College Tinian Center, both facilities vital to the island infrastructure. She was able to utilize her engineering skills and provide recommendations to help rebuild the island.

“We got to meet with one of the college’s administrators and you can tell they're just so passionate about wanting to provide a good facility for the students. We also met with the power plant operators for the assessment. And it all goes back to the people—if you have good people who want to see missions succeed, that's what ultimately why we're here,” she expressed.

Meaningful Relationships “I've really enjoyed it—getting to know people from across all the missions,” she said. “I've really enjoyed the mission, the people, and the challenge.”

During a recent team meeting, she looked at every face in the room reflecting on each relationship with them in her past two months at the RFO. A self-described extrovert and “fly-on-the-wall” she interacts daily with many USACE employees and is in many meetings observing how the agency operates in disaster recovery. She has a natural curiosity to get to know her colleagues.

“I can honestly say that I've had a meaningful conversation with everyone in this room. I've gotten to know them, to know what they do at home, learn about their life, their contributions to the mission. That's so fulfilling to me that I'm kind of been the backbone and supporting each of those missions,” she said.

A Deep Admiration Rhoton last piece of sound of advice is to fully understand the position you are going into and ask questions.

“Make sure you know fully the position that you're going in. Ask people on the ground, like, ‘Am I gonna’ be in the field all day’ or “Am I gonna’ be in the office all day?” she said.

She brought about five cans of mosquito repellant yet did not experience any mosquitoes. While packing, Rhoton packed many leisure shirts, not knowing she would be wearing USACE red shirts the whole time as part of the emergency operations dress code.

**“**So yeah, I think my clothes and then for some reason, I thought I was gonna’ get beat up with mosquitoes. I brought like five cans of like mosquito repellant [laughing].”

Super typhoons Sinlaku and Bavi caused mass destruction across CNMI. While the residents experienced devastation, the island’s spirit never faltered. Every USACE first responder conveyed a deep admiration for the CNMI people’s kindness, resilience and strength.

“The resiliency of the people…it's definitely surprised me to see how kind and hospitable and wonderful the residents of CNMI have been amidst the devastation that impacted their island,” she said. “Just talking with the waiters and waitresses at the hotel or the locals out and about—I'm just…I was really surprised to see just the positivity and the love for all the first responders who have come in; and they might not even have a solid roof on their house or electricity.”

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