1,000 soldiers at Fort Liberty on standby to assist with Helene recovery

FORT LIBERTY, N.C. (WNCN) — President Joe Biden activated 1,000 U.S. Army soldiers for deployment to western North Carolina. More than 24 hours later, troops are still waiting to deploy from Fort Liberty.

The soldiers are supposed to assist with delivering food and essential supplies to isolated communities devastated by Helene.

“I’m directing the Department of Defense to move up 1,000 soldiers to reinforcement North Carolina’s National Guard because they need additional assistance,” President Joe Biden said while in Raleigh on Wednesday. “They are going to speed up the delivery of lifesaving supplies, like food, water, and medicine, to isolated communities for what the Pentagon calls the last tackle mile.”

While the White House has given soldiers the greenlight to deploy, the state has not yet requested the support. The North Carolina Army National Guard, which is leading the ground recovery efforts, tells CBS17 they are still accessing the needs in the area and they have not made an official request for support from the U.S. Army.

Meanwhile, Fort Liberty is sending seven heavy lift helicopters to Asheville to assist.

The U.S. Army said soldiers with the 18th Airborne Corps at Fort Liberty are standing by and ready if the request for support comes.

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