The National Guard has lived up to its motto, “Always Ready, Always There!” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan M. Shiroma serves as public affairs director of the California National Guard. He joined the National Guard in 1987 during the Cold War. In the 2000s, he was deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom twice. He said he thought he’d seen everything before COVID-19. 

“I think a word that is overused but certainly hits the mark is this is unprecedented,” he said.

Traditionally during the summer months, the California National Guard is actively responding to wildfires, earthquakes, or any other emergency that Governor Gavin Newsom calls the soldiers in for. This year, the National Guard’s focus is on combating the novel coronavirus.

Lt. Col. Shiroma was on a trip through India and Spain when COVID-19 started rapidly spreading throughout the world.

“I had no idea that this would become the way it became, and we deal with it one day at a time,” he said.

Since the pandemic began, National Guard soldiers have been helping with testing and medical care.

“Our first activation with regards to COVID-19 came into play with getting some of the test kits out to the Grand Princess cruise ship, which was kind of just being held at bay outside of San Francisco,” Lt. Col. Shiroma said. “So one of the really key missions that took place there was our helicopters from the 129 Rescue Wing, which is based in Moffett Field in the San Jose area, actually flew those test kits out to the ship as well as a CDC representative to administer the tests to those on board."

"After some of the tests were done, the test kits were flown to a lab in the East Bay Area for the testing to see if it was positive or not. After that happened, our medics assisted with the quarantine passengers that had to be isolated from the public just to see where they were at with the COVID-19 virus.”

Since then, National Guard soldiers have worked with food banks to serve more than 50 million meals to families throughout California. Medically-trained teams are also assisting patients in skilled nursing facilities, primarily in Los Angeles.

“We also helped set up some of those field-medical stations throughout the state, and then we’ve also been involved with just supplementing whatever the governor’s staff needed when it came to like the Medical Services Authority set up throughout the state,” Lt. Col. Shiroma said. “So a whole gamut of things have happened since COVID-19 began and we're always ready, always there to support as needed, as commanded by the governor.”

Gov. Newsom called in the National Guard when looters were hitting businesses in Los Angeles in June. At one Black Lives Matter protest in Hollywood, actress and singer Keke Palmer urged soldiers to “march beside us.” Although the captain said he needed to patrol the area and therefore couldn’t march with them, he and other soldiers took a knee.

“You saw the respect of that one captain that the individual was really interacting with them. I believe that person asked, ‘Why don’t you participate in our march?’ And his response was, ‘You know what ma’am, we have to maintain our mission, and we have to do what we’re called out for.’ And she said, well, I believe the statement was, ‘Will you take a knee with us?’ And that captain realizing at that point this might be one way to deescalate the situation, took that knee, and his squad went down to,” Lt. Col. Shiroma said.

Lt. Col. Shiroma said the captain who knelt with Keke Palmer and other protesters did the right thing.

“He participated in a very peaceful way, and we saw that situation resolve itself peacefully,” he said.

National Guard soldiers are trained to de-escalate situations. 

“We recognize that the everyday American has the right to demonstrate and protest legally and peacefully, so we respect that,” he said. “Should that situation escalate, they are also trained to react and respond accordingly. So you do see our soldiers armed with their weapons… it was always pointed down so that the public would know that it's there, but you know we're going to respect your right to demonstrate, and we don't want to use this.”

Lt. Col. Shiroma said he’s seen the worst and the best in people during this pandemic.

“When I see the good in people and what others have done to help, that's what I stick to, that's what I keep in my heart, because I have to believe that the hope that we have is going to come back again, that it'll take away all the darkness we see right now, because I ultimately believe that there is good in humanity,” he said.

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